Alice Kaplan's 'Intelligence avec l'ennemi' Examines Robert Brasillach's Trial
Alice Kaplan's book 'Intelligence avec l'ennemi' (Gallimard, 2001) investigates the 1945 trial of writer Robert Brasillach, executed for collaboration with the Nazis. Kaplan, an American academic whose father served as a prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, reconstructs the proceedings and profiles all actors: prosecutor, judges, lawyers, jurors. The review by artpress (2002) uses Brasillach's case to explore why intellectuals and artists embrace murderous ideologies, arguing that sexual repression, egotism, and a desire to shock often drive such choices. It cites examples like Céline, Aragon, Éluard, Drieu La Rochelle, Jouhandeau, Morand, Chardonne, Montherlant, and Genet, whose 'Pompes funèbres' exposed the sexual unconscious of Nazism. The reviewer warns that the same provocative logic persists today in antisemitic and pro-Bin Laden pamphlets.
Key facts
- Alice Kaplan wrote 'Intelligence avec l'ennemi' about Robert Brasillach's trial.
- Brasillach was executed for 'intelligence with the enemy' in 1945.
- Kaplan's father was a prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials.
- The trial lasted half a day.
- Brasillach was a denouncer of Jews and resistants.
- The review appeared in artpress in January 2002.
- Genet's 'Pompes funèbres' is cited for exposing Nazi sexual repression.
- The reviewer links intellectual collaboration to sexual and narcissistic motives.
Entities
Artists
- Alice Kaplan
- Robert Brasillach
- Louis-Ferdinand Céline
- Louis Aragon
- Paul Éluard
- Pierre Drieu La Rochelle
- Marcel Jouhandeau
- Paul Morand
- Jacques Chardonne
- Henry de Montherlant
- Jean Genet
- Bertolt Brecht
Institutions
- Gallimard
- artpress
- École Normale Supérieure
Locations
- France
- Nuremberg
- Germany
Sources
- artpress —