frfashion1-4, Exercise 3: Chanel during the Occupation

Model answer (check the details):

Documented (from archives, court and police records, and reliable histories): Chanel closed her fashion house in 1939 and lived at the Ritz in Paris during the Occupation; she had a relationship with Hans Günther von Dincklage, a German officer; in 1941 she tried to use the anti-Jewish laws to take control of Parfums Chanel from the Wertheimers, and the attempt failed because the Wertheimers had made arrangements to protect their holding (check); she was questioned after the Liberation and not charged; she lived mainly in Switzerland until 1953.

Disputed: whether she was a paid German agent, what she did on any missions, what she knew of Nazi aims, and how far her motives were business, personal or political. Biographers, notably Hal Vaughan, have argued for a stronger version, and others dispute his reading of the documents (check).

What each kind of source adds:
- Archive documents (French and German records): dates and names, though they can be incomplete or written for a purpose.
- Court and legal records: exact claims in the perfume dispute.
- Biographies: interpretation and context, but with different views.
- The house's own account: the version it wishes to give, so an interested party.

Care: keep to documented statements about a named person, and mark opinion as opinion.