French National Front Party Reaches Back to Connect with Nazi Past

They Just Want Everyone to Know Where They Are Coming From

Don't Worry French Nazi Lovers, We Do

The far right party in France known as the National Front is changing its name. The party has been losing favor recently despite the fact that it has tried to rid itself of its anti-Semitic pro Nazi past policies and pronouncements. Since that did not work, it is now changing its name to remind voters what it really is.

The new name, “Rassemblement National,” which translates roughly to National Gathering or National Rally, immediately prompted critics to draw parallels to a World War II-era faction that collaborated with France's pro-Nazi Vichy government. . . .

In 1941, the “Rassemblement National Populaire,” or Popular National Rally, became a major collaborationist party in support of the Vichy government, a regime that controlled France’s “unoccupied zone” but was allied with Nazi Germany, which occupied northern France. . .

Like other Nazi-allied parties during World War II, the “Rassemblement National Populaire” saw the war — and the experience of occupation — as a chance to cleanse and purify France from within. It was no stranger to overt anti-Semitism and open admiration for Nazi Germany.

The party used a logo featuring elements of the Nazi swastika, displayed on a similar red backdrop. One of the earliest members of the “Populaire,” Roland Gaucher, went on to co-found the National Front with Jean-Marie Le Pen.

And further proof of the evil this represents,

Le Pen's announcement Sunday came a day after a visit to a National Front conference in Lille by former White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, who encouraged the party to stick to its nationalistic roots.

“Let them call you racists. Let them call you xenophobes. Let them call you nativists,” he told an audience Saturday as Le Pen stood alongside. “Wear it as a badge of honor. Because every day, we get stronger and they get weaker.”

Heil Bannon!