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.

Date: 1943
Period: Second World War
Made by: Vichy French State; Office de répartition de l'affichage (ORAFF), printed by S.A. Courbet, Paris
Region: Western and Central Europe
Country: Vichy France
Medium: Poster
Issuer type: State
Regime: Vichy Regime
Leader: Philippe Petain
Audience: Domestic public
Purpose: Persuade or win support
Themes: War and the military, Religion
Event: World War II
Techniques: Testimonial Transfer
Source: Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source: Wikimedia Commons (Musée Carnavalet / Paris Musées Collections), retrieved October 2, 2026
Rights: CC0 1.0 (Paris Musées / Musée Carnavalet open-content dedication)
Anonymous designer; printed by S.A. Courbet, Paris for the Office de répartition de l'affichage (ORAFF). Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris, inv. 2021.0.134, via Paris Musées Collections and Wikimedia Commons.

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.