Is France’s ban really a reminder of Nazi oppression?

WHEN I saw the picture of the woman on the beach in Nice looking up at the policemen grouped threateningly around her (Mail), it struck an instant chord. It was that same look the Jews had on their faces when being taken away by the Nazis. I found it terrifying. Sarah Vine articulated what many who saw that picture must have thought. The French are playing straight into the hands of the fanatics by instilling hatred into the hearts of the population and enabling Islamic State to use it in recruiting. Did they learn nothing from World War II?

MAGGIE DAVEY, Yazor, Herefordshire. hoW Sarah Vine can compare the brutal treatment of innocent Jewish women in Germany by the Nazis to French police demanding a Muslim sunbather remove a surplus article of clothing is beyond me. Given the atrocities carried out in France, this is an understandable, if unnecessary, minor incident.

Mrs JANET BYRNE, Harrow, Middx. NAZIS on the beach? This is over-the-top nonsense. The British might be more sensitive than the French in such situations, but what has this to do with Nazism? As to the ‘beachwear’, most of us would have difficulty identifying it as such — though it looks as if it may be popular lately in Brighton.

VICTOR JANULAITIS, Aylesbury, Bucks. SArAh VINe should have had more common sense than to use the word Nazis about the French police upholding the law. These Muslim women on beaches weren’t starved, beaten, raped and sent to the gas chambers. I feel this was an iniquitous comparison and Mrs Vine should apologise to the survivors and relatives of those who died at the hands of the Nazis.

FRANK BARRETT, Thetford, Norfolk. HOW outrageous that Sarah Vine should compare the actions of the French police to that of the Nazis. May I remind Mrs Vine that the Nazis set out to eliminate races or enslave those they considered inferior; hardly an accusation that could be thrown at the way the French are protecting their constitutional right of not having religion — any religion — forced upon them. May I equally remind her that for the victims of Nazism there was no escape once in their clutches. Conversely, migrants are free to leave whenever they wish and so need to consider carefully if the country they find themselves in is one that is conducive to and congruent with their beliefs.

ANIA D’BRASS, Hamstreet, Kent. hoW dare Sarah Vine compare the action taken by the police on the beach in France to Nazis for asking a woman to remove some of her clothing. France has suffered two horrendous terrorist attacks in which hundreds of innocent people were murdered or maimed by Muslim extremists, so it is hardly surprising that they are being extra vigilant. Personally, I find it extraordinary (as well as insensitive) that anyone would want to wear something that could be linked to an organisation that murders innocent people, or in fact why anyone would want to cover themselves up on a beach. having spent some time working and living in a Muslim country, I was expected to conform to their dress code and way of life. If Muslims want to live in Western societies, they should do likewise.

Ms J. SMYTH, address supplied.