Free French government

The Free French government appears in the account as a government in exile working during the Second World War, and as the institution for which Simone Weil went to England to work. Its limited but significant presence links her wartime political commitment to her proposals for France’s future and to the religious events near the end of her life.

Government in Exile

On November 9, 1942, Weil left her family and sailed for England to work for the Free French government in exile. Her decision followed the recognition that her hoped-for return to France by parachute was unrealistic; although she could not return in the way she had intended, she remained determined to join the French Resistance. The account establishes the government’s setting and Weil’s connection to it, but offers no broader description of its leadership or organization.

Weil’s Work and Postwar France

While working for the Free French government, Weil wrote The Need for Roots, a book outlining ideas for the development of postwar France. The work looked beyond the immediate wartime crisis toward the conditions needed for people and communities to regain rootedness. It was published in 1949, six years after Weil’s death, so its appearance came after both the war and the period of her service described here.

The Free French Chaplain

The government also appears through its chaplain. After Weil was hospitalized in a weakened condition, the chaplain of the Free French came to visit her. She discussed her objections to baptism and asked about the fate of unbaptized children; the priest’s blessing seemed to calm her. A few days later, water was poured on her head and the baptism formula was pronounced. The account associates the chaplain with the Free French, while presenting Weil’s baptism as a personal religious decision rather than an institutional action.