What a terrible time this was for France. Within a month of starting the conflict, Hitler had conquered all of Western Europe, and had signed a non-aggression treaty with Russia so he could concentrate on the defeat of England.

This is how Germany kept its war effort going. Youth camps were set up to send boys for fun, games, and indoctrination. Later in the war, many of them were in the front lines, many of them still more boys than men.

Propaganda posters were in place everywhere, attempting to blame the allied forces for all of France's woes. Many of these were supplied by the Vichy government, formed by French collaborators who helped the Germans control the population.

Propaganda notwithstanding, the French resistance did a lot to inhibit the Germans. Some of their information came from the BBC broadcasts from England. This picture was probably used in many places, showing a German soldier romancing a French woman. However, the frame (as you can see in the side) held an illegal radio!

(That's lipstick in the front)

Rationing books and coupons were needed for most basic goods. Gasoline was almost impossible to obtain, so some of the resourceful people built coal or wood fueled generators on their cars to produce coal gas to run their vehicles.

The people in the countryside fared much better, as they had gardens and animals. A black market supplied a lot, even though it was risky and highly illegal to buy goods not controlled by the rations.

All Jews were forced to wear a yellow star on their clothes so they could be identified. Families were broken up, some were sent to concentration camps and extermination camps. These people truly suffered at the hands of their occupation.