The Library remains open during most of the war
10 October 2017Librarian Boris Netchaeff shot by Gestapo
10 October 2017The Comtesse de Chambrun’s son, René, marries Pierre Laval’s daughter Josée in 1935. Laval is a prominent figure under Pétain’s government under occupied France. Chambrun’s connection with Laval helps the American Library remain open during the Nazi turmoil. However, this connection also implies collaboration with the Germans. René de Chambrun is blacklisted as is clear in a Life Magazine of August 1942.