In the spring of 1942, at the height of  https://www.france24.com/en/tag/world-war-ii/" rel="nofollow - World War II , Nazi Germany decided to bolster its defences on the Western Front by constructing the “Atlantic Wall” – a sprawling fortification of 15,000 bunkers along the coast from the Netherlands to the Pyrénées. A number of French companies were drafted to help build the rampart, with “80 percent of French cement at the time used in the construction of the French section of the Atlantic Wall", according to Géo magazine. This led to a major hike in the public works market, from 16 million French francs in 1941 to 671 million in 1943.

“The project was a chance, an economic opportunity for French businesses to continue working despite the occupation. In this context, Lafarge was just one of many,” Jérôme Prieur, author of “The Atlantic Wall – A Monument to Collaboration”, told FRANCE 24. “Two of its factories produced cement for the Nazis: one in occupied territory, near Angoulême [in the west of France]. The other was in unoccupied territory, near Ardèche [a region in the southwest]. Paradoxically, it was the factory in the free zone [before it was invaded by Nazi forces in November 1942] that showed the most zeal for the German war effort”.

Although Lafarge was not the only French business guilty of economic collaboration, it emerged from the war with a competitive advantage. “The war wasn’t a down period for the company,” Prieur said. “Lafarge, which was already a major cement producer, maintained its status thanks to its economic collaboration with the Germans. It and other companies that collaborated on the economic level were also best placed to undertake reconstruction efforts after the war, because of their continued activity during the occupation.”