This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/28/2013
Carved stone tablet from the Cathedral of Notre Dame, bearing the seal of Nazi sympathizer Emmanuel Cardinal Suhard, Archbishop of Paris at the time of the German occupation. Suhard defended his overly respectful treatment of the Vichy regime's Marshal Petain and his attendance of Nazi Propaganda Minister Philippe Henriot's funeral, claiming he acted from a mindset of diplomacy, but upon the liberation of Paris in 1944, Suhard was barred from the celebratory mass at Notre Dame, an ostracism imposed by General Charles de Gaulle of the new provisional government. Tablet features patee style crosses carved into the stone; one in each corner and one in the center. Below center, the elliptical seal of Cardinal Suhard as Archbishop of Paris has been affixed. Also affixed to verso is the seal of the Archbishopric, stamped upon a 4'' x 5'' printed label datelined Paris, 26 May 1946 and reading in French, ''Archbishopric of Paris / I...certify that this Stone Altar...consecrated to the Archbishopric of Paris...'' Tablet measures 5'' x 7.5'' and 3/8'' thick. Wear to label leaving only some text legible, else near fine.