Maréchal, nous voilà ! explained

Maréchal, nous voilà !
English Title:	Marshal, here we are!
Country:	Vichy France
Prefix:	Unofficial
Author:	André Montagard
Lyrics Date:	1941
Composer:	Kazimierz Oberfeld
Music Date:	1933
Adopted:	1941
Until:	1944
Predecessor:	La Marseillaise
Successor:	La Marseillaise
Sound Title:	Maréchal, nous voilà ! (Vocal version)

Maréchal, nous voilà ! (in French pronounced as /maʁeʃal nu vwala/; "Marshal, here we are!") is a 1941 French song dedicated to Marshal Philippe Pétain. The lyrics were composed by André Montagard; its music was attributed to André Montagard and Charles Courtioux but actually plagiarized from a song composed for the 1933 musical La Margoton du battailon by Polish Jewish composer Kazimierz Oberfeld, who was deported to Auschwitz in 1945, where he was murdered.^[1] Although La Marseillaise remained the official national anthem of the state, Maréchal, nous voilà ! was performed in many capacities unofficially as an alternative song for the public, being used as a popular song for events like sports and recreation.^{[2] [3]} However, the song never dispelled the use of "La Marseillaise" as the official anthem, and it remained the main hymn of the Vichy State and had official support among the Vichy government.^[4] It had multiple performances during the Vichy France Era, often in a famous variation by .

The refrain itself shows the growing cult of personality around Pétain during the Vichy regime.^[5]

In popular culture

Cinema

• 2003: The Chorus by Christophe Barratier – Soundtrack.
• 2011: War of the Buttons by Yann Samuell – Soundtrack.
• 2011: War of the Buttons by Christophe Barratier – Soundtrack.
• 2016: Fanny's Journey by Lola Doillon – Soundtrack..

Literature

• In Pierre Cormon's novel Le Traître, the song plays regularly in a Cairo restaurant in 2002.

Comics

• Maréchal, nous voilà by Laurent Rullier (script) and Hervé Duphot (drawing and color); volume II of the Les combattants series, Paris, Delcourt, 2012

Television

• 1991: Les Chansons rétros, filmed sketch by Les Inconnus, parody.

Bibliography

• Nathalie Dompnier, « Entre La Marseillaise et Maréchal, nous voilà ! quel hymne pour le régime de Vichy ? », pp. 69–88 https://books.google.com/books?id=qcBpfEu74c8C, in Myriam Chimènes (dir.), La vie musicale sous Vichy, Éditions Complexe – IRPMF-CNRS, coll. « Histoire du temps présent », 2001, 420 p.
• Maréchal, nous voilà ! mp3 recording (French)
• News: Pétain of Verdun, of Vichy, of History . 2 October 2023 . New York Times . 15 Nov 1964.
• Web site: Fancourt . Daisy . Anthems for France . Music and the Holocaust . ORT . 1 October 2023.

Notes and References

1. Nathalie Dompnier, « Entre La Marseillaise et Maréchal, nous voilà ! quel hymne pour le régime de Vichy ? », dans Myriam Chimènes (dir.), La vie musicale sous Vichy, Éditions Complexe – IRPMF-CNRS, coll. « Histoire du temps présent », 2001, p. 71
2. Web site: Fancourt . Daisy . Anthems for France . Music and the Holocaust . ORT . 1 October 2023.
3. News: Pétain of Verdun, of Vichy, of History . 2 October 2023 . New York Times . 15 Nov 1964.
4. Web site: Fancourt . Daisy . Anthems for France . Music and the Holocaust . ORT . 1 October 2023.
5. Web site: Musée de la résistance en ligne . 2024-01-09 . museedelaresistanceenligne.org.