English: "A Frenchman sheds tears of patriotic grief as flags of his country's lost regiments are exiled to Africa", according to the caption in the 3 March 1941 issue of Life magazine. Incorrectly captioned by NARA as "A Frenchman weeps as German soldiers march into the French capital, Paris, on June 14, 1940, after the Allied armies had been driven back across France." 208-PP-10A-3.

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• The famous WWII photo “The Weeping Frenchman” shows a man crying in a crowd and became a global symbol of France’s defeat. It was actually taken in Marseille on September 15, 1940 by Marcel de Renzis during a ceremony where French military flags were sent to North Africa. The man was later identified as Jérôme Barzotti, who was expressing sadness, like many others present. However, many myths spread, wrongly claiming the photo showed events in Paris or different situations.

The image was later used in the propaganda film series Why We Fight (Why We Fight #3; Divide and Conquer @54:50, 1943), directed by Frank Capra and produced between 1942 and 1945 by the U.S. Army Signal Corps. In the film, the photo is placed between scenes of Paris, making it seem like the man is reacting to the German occupation there. This created a misleading interpretation but strengthened the emotional impact.

Overall, the photo became a powerful symbol of French suffering during World War II, even though both popular stories and its use in propaganda often distorted its true context.