ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on Maurice Papon in order to evaluate his 'duty to obey' defence. This defence can provide important insights into the behavioural codes and mentalities of the French civil service, of which Papon was a loyal and much respected member. The chapter offers both a reflection on oral history and the individual, and also an analysis of individual and collective responsibility in the particular case study of Papon himself. If Papon was able to remain in post on account of a close relationship with his superiors, this success also owed much to his relationships with his subordinates. Papon put the author in contact with four of them: Pierre Somveille, Claude Grandperrin, Raymond Montaner, and Pierre de Roujoux. Papon alleged that the fault lay with the main Algerian nationalist group, the Front de Liberation Nationale, which the French state considered a terrorist organization.
