Vichy’s natural spring water leaves a bad taste in the mouth, like its history

Vichy, brand for a wide range of world-renowned cosmetics, producer of my favorite mints and home to one of the most famous official spa curing towns (natural springs) in France, actually has quite a very heavy, sordid past – that bleeds into the present…

When you live in France, it’s impossible to bypass it’s rich background: how things came about, what happened where and who and what had an impact on its history. The factual backdrop of the town of Vichy is no exception, though can be considered an uncomfortable subject. I suppose Europeans all know about its past and there’s a vague cringe factor toward Vichy.

Vichy was the de facto French government during WWII’s Nazi occupation, and while Vichy (and the Vichy Regime) officially took a neutral stance on the war, it was, in fact, a Nazi puppet state and was known to collaborate and enforce Nazi racial policies. The Vichy government and a large number of its administration were responsible for the deportation of 70,000 Jews. In addition, individuals actively assisted the Vichy regime, and the Nazis as well, by seizing Jewish private property, annihilating synagogues and other Jewish monuments, and in transporting Jews to Nazi death camps. Examples being Eugene Schueller, (the founder of the biggest cosmetics company in the world, French company, L’Oreal) and his L’Oreal colleagues, Andre Bettencourt and Jacques Correze.

The Bettencourt family is a powerful contingent still today, owning 27.5% of L’Oreal. (26.4% owned by Nestle, 3.9% treasury share, and 42.2% publicly traded).

Before this gets any more creepy, let me just finish this post by saying that the brand, Vichy, is owned by L’Oreal. I gotta go wash my hands now.