Le Vin Français, Monnaie de Guerre de l’Occupation Allemande

En 1945, quand les Alliés atteignent le « Nid d’aigle », forteresse des Alpes bavaroises d’Adolf Hitler, ils découvrent dans ses caves un véritable trésor : un demi-million de bouteilles de vins et de champagnes d’exception, en provenance des plus grands vignobles français. Ironie de l’histoire, Hitler n’aimait pas le vin. On doit cette chasse au trésor viticole à Hermann Göring, grand amateur de champagne et obsédé par les crus bordelais.

Les Allemands comprennent rapidement l’enjeu économique et social que revêt le vin dans leur stratégie. Il permet non seulement d’approvisionner les troupes et de garder leur moral au beau fixe, mais également de maintenir une certaine pression économique sur les Français. Avec la dévaluation du franc par rapport au Reichsmark, les producteurs sont obligés de casser leurs prix pour satisfaire les exigences de l’occupant. Symbole français par excellence, le vin devient donc sous l’Occupation une valeur refuge qui aidera les Allemands dans leur effort de guerre.

Réalisé par : Emmanuel Amara

In the spring of 1945,
Nazi Germany was defeated. The Allied armies are in Bavaria. French and American troops capture Adolf Hitler’s eyrie and hoist the flag
over this fortress. Among them, Bernard de Nonancourt, A young 25-year-old officer from Champagne. His mother owns
the Laurent-Perrier house. – They make a discovery, the cellar, of course, the cellar
which had been built by Goering, who was a big consumer
and a great lover of champagne. There, they will actually find thousands of bottles… – Before him shines a treasure:
half a million bottles of the best wines,
from Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Latour, Yquem,
or Romaneé-Conti, in a corner, cognacs and ports,
many of which date from the 19th century. Young Nonancourt is impressed
by the hundreds of cases of champagne. He knows them, five years earlier,
he saw the Germans load them into their trucks, conscientiously plundering the cellars. He has this loot before his eyes. – They’re going to help themselves to some. There was still quite a bit of consumption on site, What would seem normal to me was an unimaginable treasure. – That a man like Hitler,
who didn’t appreciate wine, has stored so many wonders
in a cellar specially dug into the mountain, seems incredible to him. These bottles were looted and bought by the Germans. since the beginning of the occupation in France. How did they manage to plunder this treasure? Did the French let this happen? In July 1939, the harvest forecast was excellent. The mild weather
promises a very good vintage. Then it rained non-stop for six weeks. Temperatures are dropping,
and so are the winegrowers’ moods. For the second time,
they harvest before processing vineyards into battlefields. In September 1939,
Alsace was already at the heart of French military mobilization. Winegrowers are worried about the upcoming harvest. Like everyone else, they are worried. France declares war on Germany, World War II has just begun. In the Haut-Rhin,
in the heart of Alsace, In the village of Riquewihr,
the Hugel family works the vines for several generations. André was then a young teenager, He remembers
his first months of war. – In Riquewihr first,
we welcome everyone who are evacuated
10 kilometers from the Rhine, which means, with Strasbourg,
400,000 people have been evacuated. The government is orchestrating
a massive campaign to help winegrowers. Extensions are granted to winegrowers
called up for military service. Detachments of soldiers
rush through the vineyards. The requisition of draft horses is postponed until the end of the harvest. – The 1939 wine was brought in
with the help of Limousin hunters. – “Vintage 1939,
under the sign of courage and the will of our guys forced
to demonstrate once again that there are no more indomitable warriors
than men who love freedom and peace,
Alsace wine, the wine of the border will be more melodious than ever
like a hymn and heady like a fervor.” – May 1939 was the most miserable year of the century. If we had sugar wealth, currently required,
not a liter produced in Alsace would not have the right to be sold as Alsace wine. That’s to say it was pathetic. – Everywhere in France, This 1939 vintage is the worst of the century. Eliane de Lencquesaing Miailhe comes from a large Bordeaux winemaking family. The Miailhe family owns several châteaux
in the Médoc. Eliane was 13 years old
during the Phoney War. – They said that the more castles you have,
the poorer you are, because a castle meant charges, charges, salaries to be paid, workloads to be provided, unpaid,
since nothing was sold and we shared
the poverty of our employees, of our winegrowers. We lived the same way, very, very modestly. In 1939, we began to be invaded by the refugees, all our cousins,
all the people coming from Verdun, from Paris, all families. – Among these refugees, family friends,
Italian Jews, persecuted, They come from Trieste. They are also wine merchants The Miailhe family, who work with them, are seeking asylum. – We tell them of course:
you are welcome, We will help you. Palmer is a property
in which we welcome guests,
organize tastings, but no one is staying, because we have other family properties. We settled in quietly in Palmer,
three kilometers from Siran, It’s Margot’s,
and we’ll be happy to help you. We have never laughed so much, because it was a bad time to go through, but we were sure of victory. Shortly before the German invasion, Marie-Louise de Nonancourt
finishes in champagne the acquisition of the Laurent-Perrier house. She has just invested so that her sons, Bernard and Maurice, can start their own business. – Laurent Perrier is an old house
dating back to 1812, But after Madame’s death, Laurent-Perrier fell into decline. and it was not turning into anything. This gave Marie-Louise de Nonancourt the idea to buy back that house,
which no longer served any purpose. In 1939, it was said that 12,000 bottles were mortgaged in the cellar, sales reduced to practically nothing,
seven hectares of vines, seven is still the biggest interest. – There isn’t much, But we must still do everything we can to preserve this little capital. The Germans did not leave
a good memory during the last war where everything had been looted and destroyed. Marie-Louise de Nonancourt
had part of her cellar walled up to hide his stock of 12,000 bottles. – They even say
she pooped in the doghouse where she had stored
some of her bottles, installed the statue of the Holy Virgin
which was personal to him. – As in Champagne, Everywhere people are starting to protect their wine bottles and barrels. In Paris, all establishments Those who have wine stocks
are preparing for the inevitable. André Terrail, the owner of the most famous of them, The restaurant, La Tour d’Argent, is particularly concerned. His son, Claude, arrived in Paris on May 12, 1940, just two days after the Germans crossed the Meuse. – My father, Claude Terrail, was the head of the establishment, he was quite patriotic and aviator in Bron where All French planes were grounded, bombed by the Germans. He quickly returned to Paris,
he confided in the maître d’hôtel, They went down to the cellar
and he took the time to put aside, in the deepest part
of the cellar, the most prestigious bottles. – His cellar represents a lifetime’s work. She was, in a way, his soul. André Terrail had devoted years to choose wines from this cellar with more than 100,000 bottles, some of which date back to the 19th century. Bankers, stars, and aristocrats from around the world, came to his Parisian restaurant
to taste the duck with blood and its exceptional wines,
like the one from 1867. – It’s true that we were able to preserve,
especially the most beautiful bottles. All the magnificent fines, English coffee, magnums of port, the Return from the Indies,
who left by boat and returned to France,
remained in our collections. Dad said he didn’t save France, but save his wines. In Beaune, Burgundy, people fear looting in the event of a German victory. Maurice Drouhin of the Drouhin house has tens of thousands of bottles in stock, undoubtedly one of the finest cellars
among the great Burgundy wine merchants. Its cellar is a veritable labyrinth of galleries, some of which were dug
in the 13th century. His son, Robert, was eight years old at the time. – When Germany invaded France,
in Beaune, etc., there was fear of looting. This was only the case in the cellars. which were not occupied
by the inhabitants. My father was obviously very upset. He had the idea of walling up
part of the cellars behind which were the most important wines in the wines of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. We are at the location where the cellar was walled up, Right here stood a wall hastily erected in 1940. I remember
the construction, because for us it was fun,
and we were loaded with so-called cover it with dust, cobwebs, etc. This wall remained and served its purpose,
although the Germans didn’t really
go down into the cellars when they arrived in Beaune. – Many houses
wall up their cellars like this, but in the euphoria
that follows their victory, The Germans plundered the estates that had not taken precautions, then the occupants moved in,
requisitioning the houses, then it’s the turn of the vineyards, like in Bordeaux. – Of course, only too happy
to occupy all the castles. They requisition everything, either for the general staff or for the troops. In Palmer, the requisition order
and Bourg the next day. – Boredom at Palmer Castle, it’s that the good bottles
are safe, but not the family’s Jewish friends. – We go up to Palmer, a wall, a brick wall
between the castle kitchen and the garbage, by bringing back as much dust as possible
to really dirty it and prove that it was always there. Then we stick all our Jewish friends
behind this wall and telling the children
not to make noise. I was tasked with
carrying food daily, from Siran on a bicycle,
passing in front of the Germans, who stood guard in front of Palmer and who said to me:
“Hello, miss.” I said, “Hello.” In my basket,
which I covered with leeks, of flowers or anything, there was food
for these families. This is how months passed. – Meanwhile, the Miailhes
have fake papers forged. We must act quickly to save our friends
secretly cohabiting with the Germans. – In October, during the grape harvest, We saw Dad driving one car, my uncle in the other, leave with all the Jews
in the car, false papers, false advises, knowing full well that they would have
checkpoints along the entire Route des Landes
and the Atlantic zone. I will remember that evening in Siran,
seeing the headlights leave into the night, and we said we’d never see them again,
since they’d be stopped at a checkpoint. The paperwork was particularly well done. They reached Bayonne, They took the last boat
to Argentina. – French wine and champagne are the symbols
of this lightning victory. They become a spoil of war and despite the precautions taken,
in the vineyards, The Germans like confusion
to plunder certain areas. – Hitler did not consume alcohol or very little in any case,
on the other hand, there was a man absolutely essential
in the Nazi administrative machine who was Hermann Goering,
who, indeed, was truly obsessed
with Bordeaux wines, for Médoc wines
and even more specifically for the Rothschild Sheep. He’s going to have this obsession to have these great Bordeaux wines
in your cellar, It doesn’t matter if it involves pure and simple looting. – There is looting
difficult to quantify, but a number of prestigious castles who belonged
to Jewish families will be looted by the Germans. – The Germans are also aiming prestigious properties in the Médoc. Two castles caught their attention:
Langoa and Léoville-Barton, two first great vintages. Ronald Barton, owner, left France for Great Britain
as soon as the news of the armistice was announced. – My great-uncle wanted to join the Free French and he took the last boat that left Bordeaux for London. He became a liaison officer
for the Free French. Ronald Barton has barely joined England that the Germans
recover the properties of this Anglo-Irish family present in Bordeaux
since the 17th century. – To start, It seems to me that
the SS had arrived at the castle. They had taken possession a little,
drank the wine, etc. There was a brief moment
when there was no one in the castle, because the SS left,
and the regular army was supposed to arrive. The regular army,
it was a commander who was, it is thought,
in wine in Germany, and he said that here,
they make good wine, so we lock everything. All the work
of walling up part of the cellar and bury another part of the wines
in the pigsty wasn’t very useful in the end. This commander who arrived, he was told that in any case,
it is Irish property, that they were neutral, that he had no right to do anything. – How difficult it is for the Germans to know precisely whether this family
is truly 100% Irish, The maneuver is bearing fruit. The two castles
are requisitioned by the army, the confiscation of the wine is cancelled, and the bottles are saved. In occupied Paris, German authorities demand the reopening of large establishments to taste
great French wines. At the Silver Tower,
the bottles are well hidden. In the absence of looting, these new authorities want fine wines
always available at the restaurant. – My father, like everyone else
in France, was waiting, had decided to close the Tower
and had said, somewhat jokingly, that he would never reopen the Tower. This situation was unacceptable, obviously. The Germans told him
as they do at all large hotels: “Mr. Terrail,
there’s not much to worry about. If you don’t want to
open the restaurant, Berlin will send a team.” My father, quite intelligently, like other people in France, It was a rather troubled time,
the restaurant reopened. – Some establishments
made them dream: the Tour d’Argent, the Meurice, the San Régis, Maxim’s. These were the establishments and for them, all of a sudden it was theirs. The Germans felt at home. Yes, the Silver Tower was part of this circuit, I guess, which they dreamed of. – The capital becomes
the playground of all pleasures strong men
of the new Europe. The Paris of all fantasies
becomes accessible, It becomes the city of leave
for those returning from the front. We spend our wages there without counting, in wine and champagne, women and restaurants. The Silver Tower, directed by Claude Terrail receives the most important of them. He takes advantage of this proximity to conduct intelligence work with the French secret service in London. – All the German officers came to the Silver Tower one day. My father told me that he had left with Goering, who had invited him
to visit Normandy, and my father couldn’t refuse,
which allowed him to see many things,
that in my opinion, The Germans didn’t foresee
or would have preferred that he not see. – Claude Terrail thus attends,
alongside Goering, to fortification works of the French coast
by the German army. In the busy vineyards, The German authorities will find
a way to control their troops, who plunder not only the French, but also requisitioned goods
which are intended for the Reich. Now the forms will be respected. – Wine is considered a product completely targeted by the Germans, targeted for many reasons,
firstly for civilians, to supply the Germans during the war and place the burden of the war effort
mainly on occupied countries, and also to supply and resupply the German troops. It is a product that is designated by the Germans at the beginning of the war as strategic. – Hermann Goering begins by brutally devaluing the franc. The Marc’s price has tripled
compared to pre-war prices. The Germans can pay. In Alsace, which is
completely attached to the Reich, everyone rushes to French products, particularly
on the wine of this region. – They were able to buy
whatever they wanted, because the stores were full. Everything was available, we didn’t lack anything. The wine flowed freely, wine cost them almost nothing,
schnapps the same, cognac, etc., they could buy some, which means that there weren’t many alcoholism problems because in Germany,
wine was much rarer and more expensive than at home. – Most French people believe that the armistice signed by Marshal Pétain is the solution. Wine producers and merchants are enthusiastic. They know Pétain owns a small vineyard on the Côte d’Azur. They take to ally the hero
who had written, during the First World War,
odes to the national drink. Listeners of Pétain, there is the family of Eliane Miailhe. – It wasn’t him who lost the war, and we, we admired the fact that he devoted himself
to taking on ambiguous responsibilities in such a situation. Our French families
have been very divided, between those who, very quickly, They said it was untenable
to follow the marshal and others who said:
Work, Family, Homeland. We agree,
because if we lost the war, It’s because our country
hadn’t worked. We are paying for France’s weakness, a lack of vision, an absence of realism, the Popular Front of 1936 and we were very strict to have lost this war
under these conditions. We felt like we had been very badly governed. When the marshal arrived, we said, finally someone of quality. – Long live the Marshal, long live France, long live… – Robert-Jean de Voguë
is an aristocrat from Champagne. He is a shareholder
and director of Moët et Chandon. His son Ghislain remembers the family’s passion for the marshal. – It gave
the country a backbone, with values
traditionally accepted by the people:
Work, Family, Homeland. – A new form of economic warfare
begins over wine and champagne. Marshal Pétain believes that
by collaborating honestly with the Germans, he will obtain a calming of the occupation. He is seriously mistaken. The Nazis’ greed
targeted all wine stocks in particular. They represent
a financial value, but also the sophistication and power of the country. The drawing of the dividing line
broke down most of the best vineyards
in the occupied zone. – The demarcation line took a long time to be determined. The presence of the Bordeaux vineyard, as well as the presence
of the Landes forest, was clearly in the discussions
and, if it is integrated into the occupied zone, It is a voluntary act
on the part of the occupants. There have been some truly absurd situations where farms or wine châteaux
could thus see their fields, their vineyards,
cut in two in a very arbitrary manner. – Beaune and a large part of the best Burgundy vineyards thus find themselves in the German zone. These great wines under cover, Maurice Drouhin,
along with other winegrowers, set up an escape network. They take advantage of their knowledge of the vineyard to move into the free zone the first prisoners
to escape from German camps. – In the evening, for dinner,
we generally saw men arrive. I had never heard of it,
he said: “It’s the cousin, you don’t know him,
he’s coming to see us, He came to have dinner with us.” Actually, I found out later, he was just a prisoner of war who was trying to escape,
Beaune is a few kilometers away of the demarcation line
which was removed in 1942. It is clear that Maurice Drouhin was part of the network seeking to help
these prisoners of war. – In this area,
the Germans know there is treasure. which sleeps in the cellars of French wine and champagne. – The German authorities arrive in Champagne. This arrival is truly premeditated. It’s about getting your hands on the stock of champagne bottles. The German authorities
say it clearly, For them, it is a spoil of war. This stock at the time was around 140 million bottles, It’s huge. The production of Champagne wine requires aging in the bottle, in the cellar. When you sell a bottle, you need three or four in stock. – Michel Tribaut is the manager
of the Lanson house, one of the most important
in Champagne. His son, Jean,
who was ten years old at the beginning of the occupation, remembers his first contact
with the German army. – The Germans arrived there as soon as
the invasion of Champagne took place. They came to a place,
like Pol Roger, Lanson, Moët, then loaded trucks with champagne. They didn’t ask for anything,
they paid with their pennies, even though it was worthless,
but they paid. – The German regime quickly understands the glory and the profitability he can derive
from his stock of Champagne bottles. You have to buy the finest vintages,
but to detect the best, the commandment wants those
who know wine, but also the producers. Reich economists turn
to German merchants, creating a corps nicknamed “The Uniformed Wine Merchants.” The French call them by another name:
Wine Führers. Their job is to buy as many great wines as possible. to ship them to Germany,
to be quickly resold on the international market
with a large profit, helping to finance
the Reich’s military campaigns. They also buy the lesser-quality ones
which are distributed to the troops. For Champagne, it was Otto Klebbich who became the Führer of this vineyard. – Otto Klebbich is a former agent
of a major Champagne house who has very precise knowledge
of Champagne stocks and the functioning of the Champagne profession. He’s someone who’ll be hard to fool. – Klebbich was a German merchant who had interests in
a Zekt business, a German sparkling wine. His appointment as wine leader in Champagne was not innocent
on the part of the Germans. Klebbich knew his stuff. – He was very Francophile,
I can guarantee you that. He was a man, I was going to say, intelligent, very well-mannered. – The people of Champagne are completely reassured
by the arrival of the German official responsible for supplies to the Reich. Although Otto Klebbich was very close to the Nazi regime, He was born in France. Champagne was then divided
into a multitude of producers, We must therefore unite to resist German demands. – It was necessary to intervene between the people of Champagne
and the German authorities. A contact person was needed,
and he was appointed. very quickly in September 1940
by a letter from the Vichy government who appointed Robert-Jean de Vogüé as the interlocutor
of the German authorities. – From the moment he arrived,
Otto Klebbich was caught in a pincer movement. The 1940 harvest was a disaster. He is under pressure from Berlin,
which wants to take ever-increasing
reductions in the stocks of Champagne houses. The Germans’ demands are becoming increasingly pressing. Some weeks,
Otto Klebbich requires the sending of half a million bottles. Economic resistance is being organized. Robert-Jean de Vogüé, director of Moët & Chandon, reacts. On April 13, 1941, He invites all producers to unite against the occupier. A law requested by the people of Champagne was finally promulgated by Pétain. She founded the Interprofessional Committee
for Champagne Wine, the CIVC. This is the first act massive resistance in Champagne to German demands, and Otto Klebbich sees this initiative
with a very bad eye. – The CIVC wanted to negotiate
the amount of the levies, the volume of these samples, distribute these levies
among all operators, that the Germans do not decide
themselves where they are going to collect, and then, it was also about to negotiate a price,
and a price, if possible, which is as close as possible
to production costs, So extremely difficult, very tense relationships. – A fine negotiator, Robert-Jean de Vogüé sees its German partners during the week for high-tension meetings. – His role was
still quite difficult, because he had to please Klebbich and he also had to get his colleagues to accept it part of what Klebbich wanted,
because he always wanted more and my father tried to give less and less. The people of Champagne will do everything they can to reduce these requisitions. Sometimes they also use trickery. They have stocks of bad champagne
that they are trying to sell to the Germans. – It is quite obvious that the people of Champagne partly supplied bottles which were not necessarily
of the best quality, but Otto Klebbich
who was a fine taster, tasted the bottles
and sometimes refused, with great force and violence, bottles that were offered to him
as part of these samples. – Jean Tribaut is a witness to this form of resistance that all producers
implement in the region. – We had half-exchange bottles, imperial boxes, same label, struck in red, on the reserved side, she had remarks. The good grapes were reserved for France, their regular customer,
then the last juices, They added sugar water to it to make it foam. It was sold with marks. Everyone fanned out
to give them nightingales. They were happy,
it was popping, it was foaming, It was sugar water that was foaming. – Bordeaux wines produced
on the largest vineyard in the world are also strategic
for the Germans. Bordeaux producers and merchants are well aware of this. The appointment of the future wine Führer will have a significant impact
on their economy. – This occupation is strangely perceived
by wine industry players, because Germany,
a crucial point, was in the Bordeaux wine trade. They didn’t know, somehow, which foot to dance on. Were they dealing with Bordeaux wine customers? Were they dealing
with the occupier? For me, the occupier was clever
in this respect, because they played
on the commercial sequel with Bordeaux wines,
playing on the break imposed by the occupation
and the signing of the armistice regime. – Purchases made in the Bordeaux region are entrusted by the administration
of the Reich to a man, His name is Heinz Bömers. He runs a major wine import business in Germany. Bömers is one of the greatest specialists in this vineyard. and arguably the largest customer
of Bordeaux wines in Europe. – He supervised and oversaw a network of around ten German buyers established on large vineyards
especially quality vineyards. Things are clear, he was called up in May 1940. by the Reich Ministry of Agriculture
to be this German official wine purchases in France, It’s because he knew the local economic fabric perfectly and he knew
the wines of Bordeaux. – The German authorities are making an error of judgment. The wine leaders are not only wine merchants and experts
who speak fluent French, They are also Francophiles. They are friends with many Bordeaux producers and merchants. These friendly relationships sometimes go back several generations. In Bordeaux,
Heinz Bömers is at home. Before the Great War,
his family had owned from Château Smith Haut Lafitte. In the war lair,
being an importer, he had maintained close ties
with France. Bömers arrived just after the armistice. For now, his friends in Bordeaux are wary of him. He was a close friend and a long-time client of Eliane’s father. – The Germans were major customers before the war. Our markets were in Bremen and Hamburg, in two wine houses
which were called: the Segnitz and the Bömers. Mr Bömers and Mr Segnitz came to see us,
as usual at my father’s office to say: “Edouard
we are going to resume our relations, and we will buy our wines properly.
I have the orders.” My father, cold, said to him: “My colonel,” he was in a colonel’s uniform, “You are occupiers.” “Our relationship will be strictly one that you impose on us.” He was a little surprised of the icy response
from a lifelong friend. My father told him: “If you want to come see us at home in a private capacity, in civilian clothes, we will rediscover
lifelong friendly relations, but we won’t talk about business. In business, you represent
the German army, and we will deal with matters between occupiers and occupied.” – The Mr. Segnitz that Eliane is talking about, is none other than the Wine Führer,
appointed in Burgundy by the Reich to buy the wines from this vineyard. Adolf Segnitz, director
of the company bearing his name is the representative for Germany
of the famous Romanée-Conti. Here too, this man
arrives on familiar ground. – He knew French wines well,
in any case, he knew Burgundy wines well. He is a man
who was commissioned by the Reich to be the official buyer, but he did his job well
as an officer, at the same time,
as a man. After all, he had no hatred for the French. Perhaps he also thought
that the war would end, that one day he would resume business relations. For all these reasons, he handled his role correctly. He bought wines,
he paid for them as far as I know. I don’t know if the best Burgundy wines were offered to him. He probably wasn’t fooled. – The first gesture of Wine Führer Segnitz is to summon producers and traders to its offices, at the Beaune Post Office to reassure them
and reiterate his friendship. They wanted to show
that he took their interests to heart, but that after the war, he also hoped to trade with them. – All types of wines are of interest to the Reich delegate. In reality, he buys
cheap wines, everyday wines
for the German people and their troops. These are Burgundy wines and also outside Burgundy,
because the Burgundian merchants have activities
that are very present in the Côte du Rhône, in the south of France,
in the unoccupied part of France, including French Algeria, one of the leading suppliers of wine for Germany at that time. Common wines, that’s for sure, and then a lot of luxury wines,
because these wines are very sought after to speculate in periods
that are periods of uncertainty. All the wine merchants are delighted with his arrival. Segnitz is not only
an envoy of the Reich and the Chancellery, he is a friend, he is a confidant,
sometimes, for many traders, and it’s a valuable help,
because Segnitz is the man which can resolve dangerous situations locally. – Maurice Drouhin’s contacts
with Segnitz will quickly come in handy. In the summer of 1941, he was arrested by the Germans. They suspect him of providing intelligence for the enemies of the Reich. Maurice Drouhin is a close friend
of American General Douglas MacArthur became the head of the American armed forces in the Pacific. They had fought together
during the First World War. – He spent seven months,
that’s not nothing, at Fresnes prison, near Paris. The first weeks
or months, it was the month of October, November, to the extent that he could correspond
with the family, with his wife, he could give some instructions. For the vines, for the harvest,
which were about to present themselves, He also gave advice on economic matters. During the war period, there is no point in significantly expanding trade. He didn’t want to be with the Germans, It could only be
with the French. He had wines of very high quality in his cellar and he liked to keep as much of it as possible. – Despite these letters
showing his will not to give up its good wines to the Germans, They find nothing to reproach him for in his contacts with MacArthur. The interventions of his family,
his lawyers and the support he has from Adolf Segnitz allow his release
in the spring of 1942. – Maurice Drouhin, Vice-President of the Administrative Commission from the Beaune hospices,
barely released from prison in 1942, receives a letter from the prefect
urging the commission very eagerly
to give a gift to Marshal Pétain. They couldn’t do otherwise. – In Burgundy,
as in the rest of France, We adore the Marshal
and his policy of collaboration. He arouses such veneration that the Burgundy producers’ union offers him 66 cases of wine, taking care to slip in some 1856s, the year of his birth. Maurice Drouhin must urgently convene
the assembly of the Beaune hospices to meet the requirements of the French authorities and offer vines
from the hospices to the marshal. They choose a very popular plot from a vineyard overlooking Beaune. – We will detach a portion from the hospices of Beaune,
this little terroir which is behind me, who are called the Teurons, and specifically the vintage
of the Dames Hospitalières, and it is the one
that was offered in May 1942. It becomes Marshal Pétain’s enclosure. There’s a sense of pride in Beaune, I’d say, among the local elites. For two years, this enclosure, The harvest is carried out by the Hospices de Beaune. They are the ones who have to work
on this harvest. We send bottles
to Marshal Pétain every month. He receives his case of wine
at the Hôtel du Parc. – A vineyard offered to Pétain, while German desire for wine
continues to increase. There is a general shortage of wine. Wine production
continues to plummet. Before the war, the vineyard was already in poor condition. In 1940, the drop was 30%. In 1942, volumes barely reached pre-war levels. Winegrowers can no longer keep up. They lack everything
to work the vineyard. – During the war
the production of Burgundy has been extremely limited, on the one hand for technical reasons: lack of staff to cultivate properly, lack of treatment products to fight diseases,
especially copper sulfate. – To respond to German requisitions, the Vichy government
launches a vast campaign to recover metals, to make sulfate
which is used to protect vines and thus attempt to increase wine production. – Supply the raw materials to the factories yourself who will manufacture copper sulfate this winter and lead arsenate. For economic recovery, to ensure
France’s supply, sell your non-ferrous metals to the State.” – Lack of copper sulfate
and weather conditions are undermining
all small producers. Jean Ghio is a teenager. He remembers the worries
encountered by his father, a vineyard worker, for the large estates of Meursault
south of Beaune. The few acres of vineyard
that he owns, are no longer enough to make ends meet. – My father, in 1941, he did nothing, everything froze. In 1942, It hailed,
we had no more money. We had to borrow,
that’s how we learned about banks. It worked well; they lent to those who could repay the money. My father had nothing at all. We couldn’t have sulfur and then sulfate
to treat the vines and the disease. The grapes were a little rickety, and then in those years,
we didn’t do much of it either. I helped my father, we got there, and no one died of hunger in our country. – In the vineyards, Producers are also too short of labor. Many men are prisoners. However, working the vineyard requires many seasonal workers
to prune or harvest. As a result, women and children are put to work. At the Miailhe household, everyone is mobilized. The tanks need to be filled. – We kids worked a lot, because we worked in the vineyard, since all the men
were prisoners or at war. Among children,
the little ones were favored. They were too small
to work the land. Everyone who was
between seven and ten years old, They had a good life. Everyone who was
between ten and seventeen years old had to take on everything. We loved it,
because we did it as a group, and we felt like we were saving France. – In Alsace, the situation is a little unusual, The region is completely annexed to the Reich. Winegrowers
reap certain benefits from this. In the Hugel family in Riquewihr, we lack nothing
to work the vineyard. – It’s quite surprising, but throughout the war, we have never lacked
copper sulfate, we always had the bottles
that came from Germany, because there was no factory in Alsace that made bottles. – On the other hand,
the price to pay is terrible. It’s impossible to cheat
on the quality of wine including the quantities
intended for the Germans. The Nazi apparatus constantly controls producers. The entire vineyard is under close surveillance. – My father was a business leader and before, at home, there had never been a union,
but during the war, we had the Nazi union, DAF: Deutsche Arbeitsfront, who, theoretically, took care of everything. We had a delegate in the company, One of the workers was a delegate of the Nazi union. Throughout the war, we kept quiet, we never said what we thought,
even to a neighbor, because this neighbor could,
with an unfortunate word, to revive the Gestapo surveillance a little, which was total. – The Nazi regime, which desperately needs armed men for the Russian front, goes even further. It mobilizes different age groups in Alsace. The Hugel family is hit hard. André has two older brothers
who are serving in the military. Impossible to desert, Otherwise, the families are sent to concentration camps. – My brother Georges, born in 1922, left in October 1941 to complete the six months of Reich labor service, That’s how it translates, RAD. That is to say, it was
a military preparation, and my brother left for the Wehrmacht
and in March, he was supposed to go to Russia. – In the vineyards, producers are doing their best with the means at hand
to achieve high production and satisfy these German requisitions, For others, the occupation is a godsend. Intermediaries
between wine producers and the German buyers are the traders. They are the ones who benefit from the new organization of the wine market, monopolized by German buyers. For these retail professionals, sales are exploding. – The wine market
is a fantastic El Dorado which allows fortunes to grow
unmatched to those before the war. We see adventurers swarming, create merchant pharmacies
from scratch and sometimes become in a few months, real operational players
in the wine market and amass absolutely astonishing fortunes. – During the war,
Joseph Romand was an accountant for a large merchant from Beaune. – Yes, business was going well
and it was flourishing. Those who worked with the Germans, I don’t say anything, but they worked. – In this occupied part of Burgundy, They smell business
and easy money. Among the merchants of this vineyard,
a minority of between 15 and 20%, will get rich by doing fabulous business. They are unscrupulous, ready to do anything to sell to the occupants. – We know about Beaune of course names of personalities
who became very rich very quickly: André Boisseau,
Henri Leroy, Marius Clerget. – A few kilometers from Beaune,
there is the village of Pommard, where great white wines are made. It is in this village
that the Clerget company is located. – He is a character at the head
of a small trading house, on the eve of war,
who will quickly enrich himself with his brothers quite spectacularly,
by seeking sales with the successive Reich delegates and then to the Nazi offices: the Gestapo, the Wehrmacht. He’ll be with the fennel to try to expand his business. and its success is great quickly. He is a character who sinks very quickly. in the most extreme political collaborationism, and who parades through the streets of Pommard
wearing a Wehrmacht uniform to impose his authority
on his fellow citizens. – Rare testimony, Gilberte Emotte is the daughter of a small producer in Pommard. His father runs the village cooperative. As a teenager, she sees the excesses of collaboration
in the Burgundy vineyard. – With Gilles, we knew it,
the Germans were at his house. He was with them like a friend, he was a collaborator. He had what he wanted. There were swastikas
on every window… I see it again in my head. – Very quickly, these traders
empty all available stocks. To continue making money,
we absolutely have to find wine, regardless of its quality. – We have traders
who go looking colossal volumes of wine outside Burgundy, further south,
towards Algeria until 1942,
then in the south of France, since Adolf Segnitz,
Reich delegate, is also a delegate for the Côtes-du-Rhône,
and for Provence. – Traders profit
from the chaos of war to develop financial packages. They allow them to avoid the blockade and increase their wealth through large-scale tax evasion. – A number of circuits intertwine in Europe, including during the difficult years of the war, which allows our traders
to sell through sometimes from neutral countries,
sometimes from tax havens. -I think of Monaco, and which sells
large quantities of wine abroad, including to belligerent countries
opposed to Germany. Monaco is a rather special territory, busy in reality
and neutral at the same time. Occupied by Italy,
but still a neutral country, who had international relations
with the USA and the UK during the war. All major sales are made through Monaco which houses around a hundred nominee companies, which are in reality shell companies, which disguise
French trading companies. – In the southwest, Bordeaux merchants are also active. They are in direct competition
with the Burgundians. Bordeaux is also highly sought after. The wine leaders buy a lot of fine wines there for great German figures,
like Goering and astronomical quantities
of everyday wines. – There are large traders
who will create shell companies. This is the case of the Eschenauer house,
with the society of great French wines, which will direct
most of its sales for Bömers’ requests. – Louis Eschenauer, nicknamed the King of Bordeaux, is a 70-year-old merchant in 1940. It has long specialized in exporting to Germany. Before the war, he did extensive business with this country. His business is thriving. In Bordeaux, his close ties
with the German command allow him to increase his fortune even further. – With the occupation, quite naturally Louis Eschenauer’s company will continue and intensify its trade with Germany also becoming
a sort of privileged intermediary, between Bömers, German merchants
and French traders. It happened completely naturally
and seamlessly. of what was happening beforehand. During the occupation,
not content with being a merchant, Louis Eschenauer will also play a role in the political world, since it will notably be registered
in the Collaboration group. – Collaborator, Eschenauer is also
an extravagant character who loves luxury. In business, he is just as flamboyant spreading his German contacts
in occupied Bordeaux. He is notably cousin
with Ernst Kühnemann, commander of the port of Bordeaux. – To the point that Louis Eschenauer
will be foolish to go for a walk
on the racecourse, since he had a racing stable,
du Bouscat, with Kühnemann
in German uniform. My grandmother used to say to him: “Louis, you are losing your mind, see them at home,
if you wish, But don’t show yourself like that, it will end very badly, it’s ridiculous.” – For the major Bordeaux merchants Trade with the occupier is a gold mine, the overproduction crisis is far behind us. In five years, They emptied the cellars and wineries throughout the region. The windfall is widespread,
including in Alsace or some traders have understood well all the benefits to be gained from the new political and geographical situation. – Wine was a product of speculation. That is to say, all the small winegrowers made money, because they finally found customers, whereas before the war,
it wasn’t easy. – There were large merchants,
especially in Rosheim, where there were some of these merchants, including the largest cellar at the time
in terms of storage: 18,000 hectoliters, was the famous house
of the Ruchter brothers. He specialized in importing of red wine
and French white wine. He had passes for seven, to go to Bordeaux,
lots of Bordeaux, but also liqueurs, champagne,
so these houses also had, through their activity,
opportunities to move around in what was France at the time and to cross this new border of the annexed Reich
which concerned Alsace. – In this favorable context
for the wine trade, Beaune,
the great capital of Burgundy wine, decides to celebrate the hospices’ 500th anniversary in style. Big sales
for charity have been interrupted
since the beginning of the war. The Germans allow the demonstration. – In 1943, the 500th anniversary of the Hospices de Beaune, we will stage, and it was also the mayor’s political project for, at the same time make his city known. A political project
which is to think about this 500th anniversary and to do it with great fanfare, with fast food and everything. – A great atmosphere. It happened
in the large courtyard of the hospices. There was a big play that took place in the courtyard. I know this because I was among the spectators. It was beautiful, all the German pontiffs were there. There was even Cardinal Suhard,
who was a cardinal of Paris. All the pontiffs of Beaune were there, it was really good. – During this 500th anniversary ceremony and sale of hospices, Many Germans are present,
on the other hand, in the auction room, They are in civilian clothes,
we don’t see them in uniform, but in the tastings
that take place around, They come in in uniform
and they are there, they are very present. – The hospices sell
wine to merchants who rush
to resell to the occupier, The institution is above suspicion. For months, the sisters have been building a vast escape network. – We hid British airmen. People who were fleeing, etc., were hidden under false identities. Even the sisters held a mock funeral. of a British navigator
to help him escape. – Maurice, Robert Drouhin’s father,
will also benefit from it. Since his release from prison, He joined a resistance network, a weapons cache, and logistics. He is finally denounced. – Six o’clock in the morning, knock, knock,
at the door, it was the Germans: “We’ve come to pick up Mr. Maurice Drouhin.” “Sorry, he’s not here.
He left for Paris last night.” Maurice Drouhin had foreseen the move. The house is above the cellars. By a staircase,
he went down into the cellars, he got dressed there. The Germans could have suspected
that the cellars opened onto streets and had surrounded the block of houses, four streets long. What they didn’t know was that there was a cellar which opened onto a fifth street through which Maurice Drouhin was able to escape. He took refuge
in the hospices of Beaune and with the Hospitaller Sisters, arranged for a room to be reserved for him. It certainly saved his life. – In all the vineyards, wine producers
entered into resistance: refusal to sell wine to the Germans,
escape network, sabotage of wine and champagne. More and more of them are joining the shadow army. Bernard de Nonancourt, one of the sons
of Marie-Louise de Nonancourt, the owner of Laurent-Perrier, leaves Champagne to join
General de Gaulle in London. He will end up taking Hitler’s eagle’s nest, with General Leclerc. For now, he is trying to leave France clandestinely. – Bernard de Nonancourt is leaving. He finds himself in Grenoble. He was given
the name of a priest who himself told him to go see Father Pierre Grouès. He goes to the confessional,
where they meet, and he tells his story
to Abbé Pierre who tells him to come see him this evening at the presbytery. Abbé Pierre tells him
that he can guide him on the Malleval maquis,
from Vercors, under the pseudonym of little Louis. There he will live a good year, then the maquis will be disintegrated
by the Germans. There will be a serious shooting, But Bernard had left him two days earlier for a mission. – No, far away, in Épernay,
another man joined the resistance: Robert-Jean de Vogüé, the boss of Moët & Chandon
and director of the CIVC, increasingly violently opposes
the requisitions of Wine Führer Klebbich. He is also one of the leaders of a resistance network in Champagne. This network is mainly involved in intelligence. It provides information on troop movements. To achieve this, Robert-Jean de Vogüé uses the delivery slips
for the bottles to the army. This also allows him to identify factories German weapons hidden in his region. This information is transmitted to the Free French secret service. – It started with a network called the Éleuthère network. that he sets up. The idea is to build an army ready for combat when the allies arrive. Unfortunately, they had no weapons, they had nothing, and he was arrested in 1943. – A member of his network
cracked in the face of torture and gave names,
and my father never held it against him. He always said that
in conditions like these, We can’t know
how he behaves. – Robert-Jean de Vogüé
is sentenced to death by a court in Reims
under German orders. They also oblige
French newspapers to denounce the assistance provided
by de Vogüé to the resistance. The propaganda notably shows
the discovery of weapons in cases of Moët & Chandon champagne. The news sent shockwaves throughout Champagne. – As everyone knew his important role, This raised alarm bells in Champagne
and people were saying: “We no longer have the interlocutor, so what will the Germans do? They will demand,
without us being able to defend ourselves.” – All of Champagne is rising up. That is to say that Maurice Flon, who is the CGT delegate,
calls a general strike. – The reprisals are very harsh. Companies associated with the strike movement are each reduced
to a fine of 600,000 francs or a 40-day prison sentence for their directors. Most prefer to pay. Robert-Jean de Vogüé saw his sentence commuted to deportation. – He was still deported what was called Nacht und Nebel, which means night and fog. People who were listed as night and fog were not to return. – Moët & Chandon is decapitated. Its executives are imprisoned or deported. In a few months,
the occupation guardianships place the Moët & Chandon company
under German administration. The man placed
at its head is Otto Klebbich, but this confiscation is short-lived. The French and their allies landed in France beginning in June 1944. The Germans settled in the vineyards pack up in a hurry. In Beaune,
just before the liberation, French friends
of wine führer Adolf Segnitz still take the time to thank him. – September 18, 1944,
at the time of total collapse and the withdrawal of the German army to France, François Bouchard, President of the Wine Merchants’ Union at the head of notables of Beaune, organizes a farewell dinner
for Adolf Segnitz. It’s to thank him, actually, for his good collaboration
during the war and the good opportunities
it has provided traders and merchants. – In Burgundy, during their retreat,
the Germans continue to fight. At the beginning of September,
they are near Beaune in the village of Meursault
where Jean Ghio’s family lives. – There was a little damage, but in Meursault, the worst, it’s that they have entered
the great vintages and then crossed them diagonally into the neighboring country, 50 meters wide. There wasn’t much left,
there were piles of wire, the broken stakes,
the broken vines. I know one who was sad, because my father
had a premier cru vineyard, It’s just in this one
that they passed. It was devastated,
you could say 80% of it. Because the grapes
were already formed, It was the day before the grape harvest, two more weeks,
and then it was harvest time. – At the same time, other troops liberated Champagne. At the beginning of September, the Americans entered Épernay. One by one, the vineyards are liberated. – We saw an American column who was passing by at full speed in the stage fright
and we were amazed. People were throwing away the remaining bottles
who had comments. They were very happy,
they didn’t notice that it was marked: reserved. They drank champagne, alcohol, brandy. My mother made curls. They emptied everything, swallowed everything. The soldiers wore them
to bring them back to a deep experience, buy it and then they left like that. There was a Frenchman who was yelling,
because I was out of bottles:
“I’m French.” – Among these soldiers
who liberated Champagne, there is Al Ricciuti, a young French-American jihadist from Baltimore. Bilingual and translator in the army, He was assigned to the second wave of the Normandy landings. He arrives with General Patton’s army
at Avenay-Val-D’Or in Champagne in the last days
of September. He stayed in this small village for a few days. – They are in the village,
I think they see the young girls, as they speak French, They are of course invited to eat,
to have a real meal. They camped a few meters
from their house, in a field right next door. After the bivois, They come to taste
a little champagne at a local’s house, so certainly
a little moment of welcome comfort. They meet the three sisters,
they were several friends. They corresponded
throughout the war. There’s still a nice
love at first sight right from the start. – Love at first sight is mutual. Paulette Révolte is the eldest of three sisters in this family. The Revolts were then only small producers. They are in this high place
of Champagne Pinot Noir, just before the war. Al Ricciuti only remains
a few days in Champagne, his unit returns to combat
in eastern France. At the beginning of December 1944, American troops enter Alsace. At the Hugel family,
in the Riquewihr region, the human cost is very heavy. – The seven villages around us… Kaysersberg, Ammerschwihr,
Bennwihr, Ostheim, were 100% destroyed,
with a huge number of civilians killed. – A very heavy human toll and a vineyard that suffered significant damage. – The winter of 1944, 1945 was very cold,
there was snow, which meant that shells falling on the frozen ground burst immediately. That is to say, the fragments
destroyed the vines. The worst part was the Sherman tanks
that were roaming through the vineyard, who hung iron wires, who were pulling miles of wire behind them. We were
lucky enough to be freed by the Americans of the 36th Texas Infantry Division, who liberated us
on December 5, 1944. – At the beginning of January 1945, all of Alsace was liberated. In this region, completely annexed to the Reich for four years, liberation has a bitter taste. Several hundred thousand young people forcibly recruited
are still missing. – We were delighted, of course,
but there was no, like in the movies we see,
Leclerc’s troops who arrive in Paris,
people with flowers, etc., no, We were happy, but at that moment,
we were separated from my brother and all the other Alsatian soldiers
who were in the German army. You see, the problem is completely different in Alsace. – Unlike Alsace,
in the southwest, After emptying the Bordeaux region of its wine, the Germans withdrew without a fight. The world of wine plays an important role
in this peaceful liberation. It was the work of those who were
closest to the Germans. – In Aléria, the mayor of Bordeaux will play an important role in this regard, but also Louis Eschenauer. Louis Eschenauer will contact Ernst Kühnemann in mid-August, the commander of the port of Bordeaux,
to ask him to save the port. – He negotiates himself,
he puts all his weight behind it, he is basically begging Kühnemann
to behave in a clever way,
telling him that it won’t do any good to cause more victims,
it won’t do any good to cause damage. It’s better to leave with honor
and everything will go pretty well. – These family ties with
the German commander Ernst Kühnemann of the port of Bordeaux,
allowed Hitler’s order to be negotiated, who had ordered the port to be blown up
and to fight to the end. Overall, the Germans
leave almost intact behind them the production facility of the most prestigious wine estate in the world. Apart from the Rothschild estate, which was extensively looted and damaged, At the Miailhe’s, we’re reorganizing. – I won’t tell you the state
in which the castles were found. Everything had to be cleaned up. Since we didn’t have any money,
we gave it a coat of paint with a roller, we plugged the holes and then we restarted the properties as best we could. – As soon as the liberation took place, the purge began in Bordeaux. and throughout the Bordeaux vineyards. It is immediate. The resistance attacks the symbol, to those who have benefited the most:
politicians and especially wine merchants. The most illustrious of them is Louis Eschenauer, said the king of Bordeaux. – He has a great chance of being arrested by the FFI and not by the FTP,
because all those who were arrested by the FTP received
much more severe treatment and it was much more difficult. He will be imprisoned at Fort du Hâ, in the same cell as Marqué
and with Father Bergey, and he will be tried by a court which is chaired
by Mr. Lambert de Cesseau who, moreover, became a fierce resistance fighter after having been
a tireless collaborator. These good things being said, he will be sentenced very heavily. – The king of Bordeaux is finally released, like other wine merchants, he was stripped of his civil rights and placed under house arrest. In 1945 and 1946, Economic cleansing
tackles illicit profits. The fortunes of the great merchants like Louis Eschenauer
are seriously affected. – That’s nearly 1 billion francs in confiscation, 1.7 billion in fines
by the end of 1946. Between 1945 and 1946, that was nearly 2.7 billion francs. which were taken
from Bordeaux merchants, for their transactions
with the German occupier. This purge was passed over in silence,
and still is today, we can very easily speak of a failed purge, because the press did not report it during the period. On the contrary, the press
and a number of political parties, notably,
the communists first will denounce the lack of purification. – Fines and tax adjustments
for Bordeaux merchants, but nothing for the big merchants, Burgundian collaborators. Upon liberation, everyone obtained or purchased resistance cards. Resistant, they are safe
from reprisals. All also highlight
the vital economic necessity to rebuild the country
in this time of chaos. As a result, after the joy of liberation, A blanket of lead and silence falls over Burgundy. – There were scores settling,
there were some who sang, automatically like that, neither seen nor known. Elsewhere, they are not known. There are some who have left, it’s inevitable. – This obviously raises the question of illicit profits which is considerable here,
in Burgundy, and especially in Côte-d’Or, but which is a question
quickly dismissed by the courts, which is of a fairly broad benevolence. – We have some clues about these sums through the archives. We’re talking about hundreds of millions accumulated, gold bars, everything is placed through apartments, casino purchases, of private mansions in Paris. Entire domains
have been established abroad for some wine merchants. All of this is obviously very opaque
because it mainly passes through through black market channels. – On their side, The Hospices of Beaune are fighting
to recover part of their estate, surrendered under pressure
to Marshal Pétain during the occupation. – Marshal Pétain’s assets are sequestered and the property here is sequestered,
like all his property. The 1944 harvest did take place,
but it was returned to the hospices. The issue is how the hospices
will reclaim this Clos du Maréchal. There was a fair trial in 1946, which allowed this restitution. It loses the name
of Marshal Pétain’s Clos, he returns Cuvée des Dames Hospitalières and, ultimately, some of the wine from the remaining bottles is bought by a merchant which does not truly put them back on the market than in the 1990s, 2000s. – The same feeling of unfinished business also prevails in the Champagne vineyards, despite very real resistance. Some collaborators and profiteers have passed between the meshes of the cleansing net. We are mainly attacking the symbol. In Reims,
justice takes action to the general manager of Pommery champagnes. Marquis Melchior de Polignac is also honorary president
of the Collaboration group. He was sentenced to ten years of national indignity. – When Pommery came under the Lanson umbrella via my Gardinier brothers-in-law, we found in the archives invitations from the Führer
Marshal Goering, this, that. What are you doing ? You are the head of a household
in an occupied country. You were the star,
you represented France at the Olympic Games
under the Hitler regime, Are you throwing the marshal out? – The Marquis Melchior de Polignac was finally cleared
by the post-war French justice system. He retires from business, but remains marked by the leap
of collaboration with the occupier. The Marquis provided political information to the Nazi intelligence service. The final target of the purge is the CIVC, the Interprofessional Committee
of Champagne Wine, created under the Vichy government. The judges in charge of the purge
are calling for its outright dissolution. It will not be so. Champagne wine specialists recognize the usefulness of this institution. As in other French vineyards, the general climate is one of calm. It is in this same city of Reims that World War II
officially ended. – At the end of the Second World War,
because of Reims’ martyred past, Dwight Eisenhower decided to establish his headquarters in Reims, where he left a very good memory. It is said that he rode a bicycle, He had a deep humanity
with the people. He lived here for almost six months,
and it’s because of his presence here, that we signed the armistice
of the Second World War, the end of World War II
in Reims, May 7, 1945. – Stalin is furious
that this surrender was signed in Reims. – The Russians, who needed
a more striking signature and that they had fought hard
in Berlin to liberate that city, asked for a signature,
if I may say so, more flamboyant
the next day in Berlin. – After the war, Work continues
in French vineyards. The weather in 1945 was very unusual. A wave of mild weather followed by frost, hail, and finally a heatwave. On the face of it, 1945 looks set to be a highly problematic vintage, but winegrowers have since been convinced that war and wine have a special relationship. By the grace of the Lord, the vintage is bad
when war breaks out and still excellent
when the fighting ends. Once again,
history proves them right. If 1939 had been one of the worst years of the century, 1945 is one of his best. – The year 1945, a great year,
it was the year of liberation. The harvest was not very abundant,
there were not many grapes, but it also contributes to quality. There was frost which has greatly reduced production
in some places, and especially hail. All in all, a very great year
of very, very limited production. Few bottles still exist. – Power, tannin, the maturity of the grapes,
the concentration, complexity,
a very great vintage. Besides,
1945, 1947, 1949 were three vintages after the war, which were very great vintages,
no one to buy it. It was a vintage we had been waiting for since 1929. You can have a quality vintage,
but no one to buy it. Our great market, England, was ruined. Belgium, Holland, let’s not even talk about them. Germany, let’s not even talk about it. The 45 did not find a buyer. The market remained stuck in Bordeaux until the 1960s. – Afterwards, Burgundy
gradually took off again, although it took
a good ten years to recover a little. I would add that the vines
which had often been replanted after phylloxera around 1885, 1900 were very old,
and to replant a vineyard, It costs money, it takes time,
and the savings weren’t enough. There wasn’t enough replanting. It was only from 1960 that some vines
were able to be renewed. – In Champagne, 1945 is also a good year, but German seizures
emptied cellars and stocks. The occupant leaves
a slate behind. – At the end of the war,
the Champagne economy was bled dry, the houses are on the verge of bankruptcy, the stock which was
140 million bottles because the Germans arrived,
went down to about 80 million bottles,
but this Champagne economy is still alive
and ready to restart, but it will take a lot of time. The approximately 40 million bottles which were sold before the war were only found
in the 1960s, So it took a long time
to get back to the activity level, the level of shipping that existed before the war. – The war changed things,
but it must be said that the great development of champagne intervened after
the Second World War, since from 1750 to 1939, We went from zero bottles to 40 million bottles sold. From 1945 to today, from 40 million to 300 million bottles for the entire industry. So it was after
the Second World War, that champagne has made its international take-off on five continents. – The war mainly purged the markets,
crowded markets, saturated before the conflict
and which will obviously to overturn considerably. Wine is becoming a rare and expensive product,
which it wasn’t before the war. – In a way, 1945 is the last great vintage
of the 20th century. In total, the Nazi power succeeded
in leaving the French cellars nearly 50 million bottles
of champagne, of quality Burgundy and Bordeaux and tens of millions of hectoliters
of everyday wine. The Germans were the occupiers. They have set up a formidable legal looting machine. They bought by using threats. Some French people
have become considerably richer. Among them, few were punished, But overall, producers resisted. They kept most of their great wines. These great wines allowed them to revive their business after the war. Eight years later, on July 8, 1962,
in the champagne capital, the French surprised to discover German flags
waving alongside the French. For the first time
since the end of the war, A French President welcomes
a German head of state. – My father, Jean Taittinger, was at the time a young deputy mayor of Reims, and that it is he who welcomes
Chancellor Adenauer and General de Gaulle in Reims
to take them to the cathedral see Monsignor François Marty, for this reconciliation
that General de Gaulle and Chancellor Adenauer
wanted to be crowned. They were two great Christians, They wanted a real mass
that lasted a long time, I remember very well, and they put everything
under divine authority. They didn’t want
it to stay at their level, because, somewhere,
both had experienced war, They knew what it was
and it was very fraternal. – The wines evolve
slowly and nobly. They carry within them
the promise of a long life. Wine is part of our history, it helps define us,
it’s this symbol, this pride, and this wealth that the Nazis tried to steal from the French. Robert-Jean de Vogüé
survived the concentration camp. Very weakened, he returned to his family in the spring of 1945. He takes over the reins of Moët & Chandon and CIVC. Back in the United States, Al Ricciuti fails
to find peace. He decides to send
a letter to Paulette Révolte, whom he met in Champagne. Their marriage was celebrated in 1963, in Avenay-Val-d’Or. Al Ricciuti becomes the first American
to make champagne. Otto Klebbich, Joseph Segnitz
and Heins Bömers, the three buyers
appointed by the Nazi regime, all continued to buy
French wines after the war for the German market. In Burgundy,
Maurice Drouhin leaves safely the Hospices of Beaune
at the Liberation. Just like his son Robert Drouhin, Éliane de Lencquesaing
was then inspired by her father, she prioritizes quality. She managed châteaux, including Pichon Longueville which was on the verge of bankruptcy,
before she took over the reins. This second classified growth rivals
the best, in finesse and depth. André Hugel’s two brothers returned safely to Alsace. They are marked for life
by their status as malgré-nous. Their father, Jean Hugel, also had faith in tradition. He hammered his motto to his three sons: “A well-treated wine
is an untreated wine.” Today their wine continues to be sold around the world.