****Petain was a Nazi puppet. They pulled his strings, and he danced. Oh no, they weren't complicit; they were actively involved. To date, pétainisme is a French synonym for treason.
But the French also displayed incredible courage and resourcefulness. When France fell to the Nazis, thousands of citizens joined in, assisted, or simply turned a blind eye to the Maquis. I'd bet that at least one person reading this has an American ancestor who got safely home thanks to Frogs smuggling his Yankee butt over the border.****
It is definitely true that the French Resistance was active and courageous.
But, the Vichy government was the only West European country that actively rounded up its French Jewish citizens to have them deported and killed.
The Danes, on the other hand, were a model of how to protect their Jewish citizens to whatever extent possible.
Well, it's pretty much true by definition that the French were the only ones who participated in the killing of French Jews, But Ukrainians, Croats and others lined up to collaborate with their conquerors.
The Danes, on the other hand, were a model of how to protect their Jewish citizens to whatever extent possible.
Certainly true. A popular -- and false -- legend is that King Christian X started wearing the yellow star, and other Danish gentiles followed suit. But it is true that the Danes, almost to a man, put on the wide-eyed, innocent face and said "What Jews? I don't know any Jews" while helping smuggle nearly all of them to Sweden.