Alsace is the border region that Leni names as her home, linking her personal origins to the contested national loyalties of the German occupation. She recalls that the German flag had flown there in the past, but insists that she was taught to love France alone and wants only what is good for her country.

Border History and National Allegiance

In conversation with a German officer in Paris, Leni explains the contrast between her German first name and French surname by saying that she comes from Alsace, where the German flag has also flown. The region’s shifting national history is not, in her account, a reason for divided loyalty: she presents her attachment to France as firm, and questions how the occupation could benefit her country.