European press review

The 60th anniversary of the liberation of Paris features prominently in today's French papers, while in Germany a new film on Adolf Hitler comes under scrutiny.

The anniversary of the liberation of Paris in 1944 makes the headlines in the French press, with the left-of-centre Liberation devoting its entire front page to a photo of a smiling couple dancing on top of a tank under the heading: "The freest of days."

Paris liberated

Both Le Monde and Le Figaro give pride of place to General Charles de Gaulle's famous words to the French 60 years ago: "Paris! Paris insulted! Paris broken! Paris martyred! But Paris liberated, liberated by its people!".

Also prominent on the front page of Le Monde is a cartoon linking the past with more recent events.

It shows two German soldiers, their hands raised, marching in front of a US tank amid the celebrations and flag-waving.

"Please: Is there a way we can avoid being sent to Guantanamo?" one of the Germans asks his captors.

Two Frances

In its editorial, entitled "The two Frances", Le Monde expects the ceremonies to commemorate what General Charles de Gaulle called "a certain idea of France".

But there is another France, it argues, "that of Vichy and collaborationism", the France which "acclaimed Marshal Petain in the streets of Paris only a few weeks before the liberation".

[Today] the social achievements of the post-war era are being dismantled [and] individual resignation... seems to prevail over the spirit of collective revolt Liberation

The paper warns against "painting too large a picture" of the De Gaulle version, or "any pretence" that the collaborationist Vichy regime was just "a parenthesis" in the country's history.

Such an attitude, it says, would "carry the serious risk of continuing to conceal the second (France), when all the signs are that it has not given up", given the far-right's performance in the 2002 presidential elections and the current "upsurge" in racist and anti-Semitic attacks.

Liberation follows a festive paragraph with the argument that the very "fervour" of this year's celebrations of various World War II anniversaries "is symptomatic of a profound discontentment" with the present.

In present-day France, the paper says, "the social achievements of the post-war era are being dismantled", while "individual resignation... seems to prevail over the spirit of collective revolt".

Never has a president of the republic celebrated the lessons of the past to the extent that Jacques Chirac is doing in a bid to contain the evils of the present Liberation

"Over the past 20 years," it adds, "the far-right has become a part of the political landscape, and in recent months hardly a day has gone by without anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim incident occurring."

"Never has a president of the republic celebrated the lessons of the past to the extent that Jacques Chirac is doing in a bid to contain the evils of the present," the paper says.

"But celebration is not the same as action,¿ it argues, and President Chirac's "impotence to stamp his mark on the history books has never been so glaring".

Shooting the past

Germany's Die Welt says The Downfall, a new film on Adolf Hitler's final days premiered in Berlin on Monday, puts viewers "eye to eye" with the dictator.

"The demon," it adds, "turns out to be a human being with traits and features which, though not exactly attractive, are nevertheless understandable."

Today the Germans have their history, but are no longer saddled with it - this enables them to look Hitler in the eye Die Welt

There are moments in the film, the paper says, when Hitler "takes on sympathetic characteristics" and others when "it is difficult to avoid a degree of pity".

The paper argues that the fact that Hitler is portrayed "realistically" rather than as completely inhuman is "a sign of emancipation".

"The strength to engage in recollection comes from distance," it says.

"Today the Germans have their history, but are no longer saddled with it. This enables them to look Hitler in the eye."

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung calls The Downfall a film for post-war generations.

The paper says it seeks to put into pictures "what is really unimaginable" and wants to show "things which do not fit in the categories of realism or authenticity".

"With The Downfall," it adds, "German cinema has again gained in self-confidence in the way it handles German history."

The European press review is compiled by BBC Monitoring from internet editions of the main European newspapers and some early printed editions.