''The Shaved Woman of Chartres '' (french: La Tondue de Chartres) is a black and white photograph taken by

Robert Capa Robert Capa (born Endre Ernő Friedmann; October 22, 1913 – May 25, 1954) was a Hungarian-American war photographer and photojournalist as well as the companion and professional partner of photographer Gerda Taro. He is considered by some t ...

in Chartres on 16 August 1944. This picture was shortly after published in ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' magazine and became iconic of the '' épuration sauvage'' (wild purge) enacted after the

liberation of France The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany inv ...

and the severe punishment imposed on the French women accused of so-called horizontal collaboration with the German occupiers.

History and description

A week after the liberation of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, women deemed collaborators with the Nazi regime, especially those who had been romantically or sexually involved with German men, were being punished in France with head shaving and were often paraded through the streets as a means of humiliation, before usually being sent to jail. The picture depicts one of these women, Simone Touseau, 23 years old, who had been a translator working for the Germans and in a relationship with a German soldier since 1941, and who born him a daughter, still a baby when the event took place. She was also accused of denouncing neighbours who ended up being deported, which she denied. The picture depicts her, carrying her daughter in her arms, after the humiliating head shaving had taken place and her forehead had been branded with a red-hot iron as a sign of

collaborationism Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime, and in the words of historian Gerhard Hirschfeld, "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to ...

, while she is being paraded in the streets of Chartres, followed by a number of people, including women, children and policemen. Her father walks ahead, carrying a bag, while her mother, who also suffered the same punishment, is partially covered by him. She is being escorted home, from where she would go to jail. This case and the picture in particular were the subject of the documentary ''La Tondue de Chartres'' (2017), directed by Patrick Cabouat. It also inspired a novel by French author Julie Héraclès, titled ''Vous ne connaissez rien de moi'' ("You don't know anything about me") and released in 2023.

Public collections

A print of the photograph is held at the collection of the

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP), at 79 Essex Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, consists of a museum for photography and visual culture and a school offering an array of educational courses and programming. ...

in New York.Robert Capa at the International Center of Photography
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaved Woman of Chartres, The 1944 in France 1944 photographs Photographs by Robert Capa Black-and-white photographs French collaboration during World War II World War II photographs