Expositions
Three exhibits in Paris between the autumn of 1940 and the summer of 1942 were intended to stigmatize "l'Anti-France" [the opposition to France] as a way of rallying public opinion behind the policies of exclusion and repression. L'exposition antimaçonnique [The Anti-Masonic Exhibit] opened at the Petit Palais in October 1940. It was followed by Le Juif et la France [The Jew and France] from September 1941-January 1942 at the Palais Berlitz, and later by Le bolchevisme contre l'Europe [Bolshevism against Europe] at the Salle Wagram from March-July 1942.
These exhibits were organized with the encouragement and financial support of the occupying forces as well as Hungary, Romania, Finland, Spain and Portugal and curated by high-level PPF leaders including Jacques de Lesdain, Jean Marquès-Rivière, Maurice Yvan Sicard, with additional support, in some cases, from the Institut d'études des questions juives [Research Institute on Jewish Questions], which was co-financed by the Vichy government. Funding and support were also provided by the Comité Antibolchévique [Anti-Bolshevist Committee], under the leadership of Paul Chack and also directly sponsored by the Information Secretariat of the Vichy government.
The anti-Masonic exhibit contained a reconstitution of the temples and workshops of various lodges banned by a Vichy law that outlawed secret societies in August 1940. The exhibit was staged to be provocative but instead resembled a kind of Punch-and-Judy puppet show. The two other exhibits, on the other hand, employed graphic artists and renowned stage designers and adopted a scientific stance and innovative staging techniques that included large-scale photomontages and dioramas as well as film projection.
