On August 20, 1944, the Germans penetrate Vichy’s Hôtel du Parc by force, remove Marshal Pétain, and assign him to residence in Germany at Sigmaringen. Pétain refuses to create a fictitious government in exile and, on April 24, 1945, benefiting from the German debacle; he fools his guards and takes refuge in Switzerland. He refuses the hospitality which is offered him by the Swiss government and decides to return to France to defend those who served him.

On April 26, escorted by a detachment of the Swiss Army which honours him, he crosses the border at Vallorbe. Arrested, then brought before the High Court of Justice on July 23, 1945, he is accused of « intelligence with the enemy ». He is condemned to death on August 15, 1945. The sentence is commuted to life imprisonment, and he is finally transferred, on November 15, 1945, to the Fort of Pierre-levée, on the island of l’île d’Yeu (Vendée). Pétain dies there, at age 95, on July 23, 1951, after six long year of martyrdom in captivity.