---
title: J'aimerais mieux rendre l'âme à Dieu (I would rather give up my soul to God), ORAFF poster
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/vichy-joan-of-arc-english-hands-oraff-1943/
description: A stylised head of Joan of Arc in armour sits above a line attributed to her trial, 'than to be in the hands of the English', with the sheet's last word…
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![J'aimerais mieux rendre l'âme à Dieu (I would rather give up my soul to God), ORAFF poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/vichy-joan-of-arc-english-hands-oraff-1943.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/vichy-joan-of-arc-english-hands-oraff-1943.jpg)

# J'aimerais mieux rendre l'âme à Dieu (I would rather give up my soul to God), ORAFF poster

A stylised head of Joan of Arc in armour sits above a line attributed to her trial, 'than to be in the hands of the English', with the sheet's last word 'Anglais'. The tell: a medieval saint's quoted words are set beside a 1943 poster so that her standing attaches to a present-day anti-British message.

## Text on the object

Original (French) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
J'aimerais mieux
rendre l'âme à Dieu,
que d'être en la main
des Anglais.
JEANNE D'ARC
Procès de Jeanne d'Arc

IMP. S. A. COURBET - PARIS - (1-1943)
ORAFF. V. I. 1052
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
I would rather give up my soul to God than be in the hands of the English.
JOAN OF ARC
Trial of Joan of Arc

PRINTED BY S. A. COURBET - PARIS - (1-1943)
ORAFF. V. I. 1052
```

Translation is FRAME's own literal rendering, machine-assisted and not verified by a fluent reader.

[← La Grande-Bretagne n'a pas cessé d'être une île (Great Britain has not ceased to be an island), ORAFF poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/vichy-clemenceau-england-oldest-enemy-oraff-1943/) [Vliegende forten, vliegende doodkisten! (Flying fortresses, flying coffins!) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/vliegende-forten-vliegende-doodkisten-1943/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (Roman Empire · 0037 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Seljuq gold dinar of Sanjar, dated 493 AH, with the Abbasid caliph named on one face](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/seljuq-gold-dinar-sanjar-caliph-name-1099/) (Great Seljuk Empire · 1099 · Testimonial)
- [J'Accuse...! Lettre au Président de la République (J'Accuse...! Letter to the President of the Republic), L'Aurore, 13 January 1898](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jaccuse-laurore-front-page-1898/) (France · Jan 13, 1898 · Testimonial). Content note: Newspaper page about a wrongful-conviction controversy; the letter text refers to a prisoner held in torture-like conditions on Devil's Island; no graphic imagery.
- [The Speaker, front page 'The Week', 22 June 1901: Hobhouse report and 'methods of barbarism'](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/speaker-hobhouse-camps-methods-of-barbarism-1901/) (United Kingdom · Jun 22, 1901 · Name-calling, Testimonial). Content note: Text on deaths of women and children in British camps in South Africa, with mortality rates.
- ["The War with Japan" (Puck cover, 23 October 1907)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/puck-the-war-with-japan-1907/) (United States · Oct 23, 1907 · Testimonial, Scapegoating)
- [Bande Mataram (Paris), memorial page to Madan Lal Dhingra, 17 August 1909](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bande-mataram-paris-dhingra-memorial-1909/) (France · Aug 17, 1909 · Testimonial, Transfer)
- [Indian Opinion (Phoenix, Natal), page 266: 'Natal Mercury's Comments' and 'The Durban Conference' during the coal-mine strike, 29 October 1913](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/indian-opinion-natal-mercury-durban-conference-1913/) (Union of South Africa · Oct 29, 1913 · Testimonial)
- ['Do your duty bravely. Fear God. Honour the King.' Lord Kitchener postcard (about 1914)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kitchener-duty-bravely-postcard/) (United Kingdom · 1914 · Testimonial, Transfer)