Confronting certain winegrowers, traders and producers with an embarrassing past… This is the ambition of the book The grapes of the Reich, by journalist Antoine Dreyfus. The author traveled for two years four French vineyards – including Bordeaux – which, far from having been plundered by the Nazis during the Second World War, on the contrary largely traded with Germany under the Occupation. Some traders even got (a lot) rich during this dark period. 20 minutes asked Antoine Dreyfus about this fascinating investigation.
Why did you become interested in the world of wine under the German occupation, 80 years later?
There has been work by historians on the subject [notamment Les vins de Bordeaux à l’épreuve de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, de Sébastien Durand] but this is still a little-known part of history, while wine is a very strong symbol of France. And I wanted to approach it with a journalistic approach, by going to confront this story with the world of wine today.
Precisely, what is striking in your book is the obstacle course to obtain information from current professionals. Is the subject still taboo?
Clearly, and particularly in the Bordeaux region. Burgundy looks this story in the face, Champagne defends a “resistentialist” vision – which existed, even if it was a Resistance at the end of the Occupation – but accepts the dialogue, in Bordeaux nobody received me . There is a culture of secrecy that persists, and some consider that four more or less dark years, in the long history of sometimes hundred-year-old estates, is not huge.
You point out that during the division of France after the German invasion, the four most prestigious vineyards are found on the side of the occupied zone, and that this is not due to chance …
Indeed, even if there is no official explanation to date. But we can only note that the demarcation line includes Champagne, part of Burgundy, Bordeaux and Cognac. And what we are sure is that wines are a strategic issue for Nazi Germany, and that since 1939, when the sector is dominated by France.
You also say that contrary to what one might think, there was no looting of French cellars. On the contrary, the Germans quickly created purchasing centers and bought French wines at very good prices …
There was some looting, which is mainly the result of Göring [bras droit d’Hitler] and some German soldiers. But very quickly, the Germans set up purchasing centers, with Weinführer in each wine-growing region who are responsible for buying wine, thanks to the money from the colossal occupation indemnity that France pays to the Germany. This sets up a system in which the closer you are to the Weinführer, the more you sell. From the German point of view it is very clever, because it allows to buy social peace. The world of wine feared the requisitions of the Vichy regime, which paid little, if any, much more.
In Bordeaux, the Weinführer who is appointed by Germany is called Heinz Boemers, and when he arrives it is a relief among professionals …
Heinz Boemers is a very great wine professional, he is French-speaking, and everyone knows him in Bordeaux. He is friends with Louis Eschenauer, who is the number one merchant in Bordeaux, with whom he did business even before the war. And both will continue to do so under the Occupation, even buying up domains.
Boemers’ secretary, Gertrude Kircher, will play a key role at the Liberation, to help understand this relationship between the world of Bordeaux wine and the Germans …
In August 1944, the Gironde, which was very resistant, freed itself, and before fleeing Boemers ordered his secretary to burn all the documents. She does nothing and gives everything to FFI [Forces françaises de l’intérieur]. She tells about everything that happened, especially with the traders. This is where we see that Boemers mainly bought very good wines, which is why these stories which want us to believe that the winegrowers would have deliberately sold piquette to Germans who knew nothing about it, are totally false. , with perhaps a few exceptions.
The winegrowers and traders involved, believe that they had no choice …
Many professionals have indeed justified themselves at the Liberation, saying that they were obliged to sell. But how far do you go to sell your product? Do we really have to join an association called Friends of the Marshal, or to the Collaboration Group? To organize sumptuous dinners with German officers? Some do not hide their great sympathy for Germany, and there are many cases which go far beyond the scope of forced sales. And above all, it must be taken into consideration that traders have grown enormously during this period of deprivation for all the French, who lived very badly. At the Liberation, there were still convictions for illicit enrichment.
Even if there were resistance among the winegrowers, you say that the wine world has resisted relatively little. Why ?
Several winegrowers hid aviators, Jews, resistance fighters, it must obviously be underlined. There were Gaullists, of whom Bernard de Nonancourt in Champagne, which is an important figure in the Resistance, and which will develop the Laurent-Perrier brand after the war. But, overall, the wine world has resisted relatively little. This is explained, and understandable, by the profile of the professionals. It’s more complicated to resist when you’re 40 or 50, with children and a farm to run, than when you’re 18 and nothing to lose. However, there was also a fairly strong ideological support for Pétainism. Pétain never ceases to extol wine, this product which comes from the earth, and which, according to him, made it possible to win the Great War of 14-18.
Les raisins du Reich, 228 pages, 21 euros. Ed. Flammarion.