法國政府承認在納粹大屠殺中的「國家責任」

【Comment】承認罪行是很困難的心理狀態。

過去的法國政府，總是將罪推給「納粹德國」或「維琪政府」，卻忽略自己的政府正是繼承合法的「維琪政府」的法國合法政府。
橋歸橋、路歸路，「逮捕、埋葬與安置到中途站」，不是別人，是由維琪政府所執行。這部分和納粹屠殺無關，所以皆下來是主張賠償。而法院雖然說國家有責任，但卻不認為需要賠償。戰後，已經補償與象徵性賠償過了。

有趣的在這裡：法國本土在二次大戰中，除了「合法政府」播遷到維琪（稱為「維琪政府」Vichy government），控制法國南半部，並於戰爭前半期與英美等國維持正式的外交關係之外，領土還分為五種地位與當局：
˙帝國兼併區（Territory Annexed to the Reich）、
˙德國佔領區（German Occupied Zone）、      
˙德國租界（German Settlement）
˙義大利佔領區（Italian Occupied Zone）
˙比利時與法國北部軍事管理區（Military Administration of Belgium and Northern France）。

國家（state）與政府（government）是不同的概念。
基於國際法下國家的「同一性」（identity），戰後由「自由法蘭西」（Free French）為主的數個團體所合組的法國（第四共和）政府，成為維琪政府的「繼承政府」（successive government）；既然代表法國，就是與維琪政府一樣，先後代表法國的合法政府。

國際法下，合法政府的更迭不影響國家的身份，當然。享受合法政府的權利之餘也要負擔其義務。
因此，法國合法政府維琪政府的責任，就是法國的責任，要由現在的「第五共和政府」承認和繼承──承認為國家的責任，從而也等同承認為自己的責任。這雖然難堪卻是合理的。這是國際法下的「政府繼承」的意義和具體實踐。

只是法國這樣嗎？
1912年之後不久，ROC在北京，卻有南京相爭；後來又變成廣州在嗆聲。二次大戰中，再變成ROC到重慶，南京也有一個ROC。戰後一段時間，又是台北的ROC與北京的PRC對幹。全部都是國際法下爭奪「中國合法政府」的戲碼，以「國共鬥爭」來看，太狹隘，無法以同一個模型解釋1949之前的戲碼。
腦筋急轉彎的是：假使ROC又被成認為中國合法政府，其法律效果就是要負擔「全中國」的國際義務（包括債務）…

當然，還要思考法國這案件與二二八的類比可能～

法國承認其納粹大屠殺角色　■BBC（2009.02.17）

法國最高行政法院正式對法國政府在二戰期間把七萬六千名猶太人遣送到德國納粹集中營（Auschwitz）做出道歉。

這些被遣送者中有許多是兒童，戰後只有三千人活了下來。

法國最高行政法院（the Paris administrative court）做出的一項裁決說，在1942年到1944年期間，法國維琪政權在沒有受到德國佔領軍脅迫的情況下允許或協助這一遣送行動，導致反猶迫害。

記者們說，這是對法國政府在納粹大屠殺歷史中扮演的角色所做出的最明確的承認。

但是它拒絕向倖存者或死者的親屬支付任何進一步的現金賠償。並說，自二戰結束以來，法國已經支付了其他國家所支付的賠償金。

法國最高行政法院還說，迫害行為與法國的共和傳統是水火不相容的。

法國前總統席哈克在1995年上台後不久，便承認政府對此負有責任（the French state's responsibility）。

而在他之前的法國歷屆政府都把此歸咎於在被德國佔領時期控制法國的納粹傀儡政權－維琪政權。

 

French Holocaust role recognised　■BBC（2009.02.17）

France's highest court has recognised the state's "responsibility" for the deportation of Jews in World War II.

The Council of State said the state had permitted or facilitated deportations that led to anti-Semitic persecution without being coerced by the occupiers.
But the council also found reparations had since been made "as much as was possible, for all the losses suffered".
Correspondents say the ruling is the clearest such recognition of the French state's role in the Holocaust.
Between 1942 and 1944 some 76,000 Jews were deported from France by the Vichy government in collaboration with the German occupying army.
In 1995, former French President Jacques Chirac officially recognised the French state's responsibility in the deportation of French Jews, putting an end to decades of ambiguity by successive governments.
"These dark hours forever sully our history and are an insult to our past and our traditions," he said. "Yes, the criminal folly of the occupiers was seconded by the French, by the French state."
Previous administrations had always blamed either Nazi Germany or the Vichy government, absolving the French state of responsibility.

Compensation claim

The Council of State's pronouncement on Monday came after the Paris administrative court sought its opinion on a case brought by the daughter of a deportee killed at Auschwitz , who is seeking reparations from the French state.
She is also asking for material and moral damages for her own personal suffering during and after the German occupation.
In its judgement, the council said it believed the responsibility of the state was evident because it had "permitted or facilitated the deportation from France of persons who had been victims of anti-Semitic persecution".
The state's actions were not the result of "direct constraints put upon it by the occupying force", it added.
The council cited "arrests, internments and displacement to transit camps" carried out by the French authorities, which it said were "the first stage of the deportation of these people to camps in which most of them were exterminated".

However, the court also said that it did not believe the government should be liable for any further compensation claims.
"The reparations required called for individual compensation for victims, as well as a solemn recognition of the state's responsibility and of the loss and damages collectively suffered," it explained.
"The various measures taken since the end of World War II, both in terms of compensation as well as symbolic reparation, have repaired, as much as was possible, all the losses suffered."
In 2007, a Bordeaux appeal court overturned a ruling ordering the state railway operator, SNCF, to compensate the family of deportees. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7893127.stm