Review of the book France under Fire: German Invasion, Civilian Flight, and Family Survival during World War II, by Nicole Dombrowski Risser

In 1939 and 1940, France faced a displacement crisis. Following the declaration of war in September 1939, the government of the Third Republic selectively evacuated citizens whom it considered to be at risk as a result of the pending war. With the outbreak of hostilities the following May, millions of citizens spontaneously fled the advancing German army during the period known as the exode. Then, with the signing of the armistice in June 1940, repatriating these internally displaced refugees became the responsibility of the new Vichy regime. These three themes of evacuation, flight, and repatriation structure Nicole Dombrowski Risser’s study of civilian wartime experiences