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The article focuses on the conditions of France during World War II. France emerged from the occupation to face the world. Paris was liberated not by itself, but by the Allied armies. Few French people at the time would have said that their nation behaved heroically during the War. The article is an author's attempt to justify his country's inactivity--the ease with which he and his fellow citizens accommodated themselves to the Germans--for four years. Addressing himself to an audience outside of France, the author presents a somber account of the Parisian experience of occupation. Addressing himself to an audience outside of France, philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre presents a somber account of the Parisian experience of occupation. He admits every choice was a bad choice and yet it was necessary to choose and people are responsible. In this admission may be found, perhaps, the impetus for Sartre's postwar career as a champion of left-wing causes and outspoken critic of colonialist regimes.