The Liberation in the Dordogne: from armed insurrection to the beginnings of political reconstruction (June 1944 - May 1945)

The Allied landings on 6 June 1944 sparked an armed insurrection that led to the liberation of the département at the end of August. However, the fighting was not over for the people of Périgord, who continued the war in the pockets of the Atlantic and all the way to Germany. Political reconstruction got under way with the formation of Liberation committees, the purging of the population and the first municipal elections in 1945, which included women's suffrage. These stages in the Liberation of the département are put into perspective through the dual eyes of an archivist and a historian. Bernard Lachaise is co-editor of La Dordogne dans la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Éd. Fanlac (2020 et 2024) and co-author of the exhibition Guerre, Occupation, Résistance et déportation en Dordogne.