The viral video circulating on X captures stark black-and-white and colorized historical footage from the summer of 1944 in liberated France. It shows crowds of French men and civilians publicly humiliating women accused of “horizontal collaboration” — primarily sexual or romantic relationships with German soldiers during the occupation. The scenes depict mobs shaving women’s heads, painting swastikas on their foreheads, parading them through streets, tearing their clothes, and subjecting them to verbal and physical abuse while onlookers jeer.
This was not isolated vigilantism. Estimates suggest 20,000 to 50,000 women (and some men) across France suffered head-shaving and public degradation in the chaotic months following D-Day and the retreat of German forces. These acts occurred in towns and cities as “épuration sauvage” (wild purification) — extrajudicial revenge before formal trials.
Symbolic emasculation and female targeting
Many French men had experienced the rapid defeat of 1940 and years of occupation. Unable to effectively resist the Germans militarily in large numbers during the early years, segments of the population turned their frustration and sense of national humiliation onto women. Shaving heads stripped women of femininity — a public declaration that they were “traitors” who had “given themselves” to the enemy. Swastikas branded on faces and forced marches amplified the degradation.
Broad and often arbitrary accusations
Not all victims were proven collaborators. Some had genuine relationships, others were forced or opportunistic for survival (food, protection). Many were simply accused due to neighborhood grudges, jealousy, or rumors. The video notes cases of women who “simply served meals” or faced disputes unrelated to politics. Formal evidence or trials were rare in these street spectacles.
Mob psychology and misogyny
Crowds of men (and some women) participated enthusiastically. The acts combined political retribution with deep-seated resentment toward female sexuality and autonomy. Women were paraded half-naked, sometimes with babies fathered by Germans, as spectacles for male catharsis. This reflects a strain of viewing women as property of the nation — their bodies symbols of national honor to be “reclaimed” through violence and shame.
Anti-Feminism and Female Hatred Angle
These events expose a raw undercurrent of contempt for women framed as national betrayal. In the name of restoring French masculinity and patriotism after defeat, mobs directed disproportionate fury at female bodies and sexuality. Collaboration with the enemy was real in occupied France (business, administration, and yes, personal relationships), but the punishment fell overwhelmingly and viscerally on women rather than male economic or political collaborators who often faced lighter or delayed justice.
Critics see this as a precursor or symptom of broader patriarchal backlash: when men feel collectively weakened (defeat, occupation, loss of control), some lash out at women as scapegoats for national failure. The “horizontal collaborator” label weaponized female sexuality against them, treating intimacy as treason while excusing wider societal accommodation of the occupier. Modern reactions to the video often highlight this as evidence of deep-seated resentment toward women’s choices, especially in times of crisis or shifting power.
Historical Nuance
The provisional French authorities under de Gaulle later tried to channel this into formal épuration légale (legal purge), with courts and executions. However, the initial wave was mob-driven, often by Resistance groups (including communists) settling scores. Similar, though less documented, shavings occurred in other liberated countries like Belgium, Netherlands, and Norway. Many victims suffered lifelong stigma; some were ostracized or had children taken.
The video forces uncomfortable questions about “justice” in wartime and its aftermath. Public torture and humiliation of (often vulnerable) women as collective punishment reveals how quickly liberation can devolve into new cycles of barbarism and gendered violence. It stands as a grim historical example where nationalistic fervor merged with misogynistic impulses, turning personal failings or choices into public spectacles of female degradation.
