Americans make fun of the French for laying down during World War II... and that's not exactly fair.

Sure, France was run over by the Nazis in a rather expeditious fashion. And sure, the installed Vichy government wasn't exactly, what's the word... good. But not all French people laid down without a fight.

Take Leon Blum, two-time French Prime Minister. He was encouraged to leave the country — after all, he was a Jew — but he stayed. Blum was one of the few to vote against Vichy, to no avail. He did leave Paris... for southern France, where he was caught and imprisoned. Buchenwald and Dachau followed. Not exactly laying down here.

Blum was rescued by the Allies close to the war's end, and then came back strong — heading France's transitional post-war government. So...

Vive la France!?

Defintely, vive Leon Blum!