This research aims at finding out through body activities what the living conditions of the French people, the prisoners of war, the deported people and those sent to work by force, were in the 3rd Reich between 1940 and 1945. Based on both French and German institutional archives and testimonies, the study argues that the form and meaning of physical activities experienced of the German soil depended simultaneously on both social and powerful political processes. Thus, what was reserved for the French people who were considered capable of integrating the Big Europe reflected a kind of skillfully orchestrated indoctrination under the name of Betreuung. In this case the prisoners of war and the required ones had a certain flexibility to organize their everyday life. The competitions, the performances and the lessons of physical education which they set up were inspired by their previous experiences and were adapted thanks to the particular context they lived in. In addition they were helped in their projects by some decentralized departments of the Vichy Government, such as the Mission Scapini for the prisoners, the Bruneton delegation for the required people, all leading to keep a certain control over the people and to urge them to join the “National Revolution”. It was however totally different for those considered as “enemies” by the Nazis. These people had to face physical practices which aimed at killing them at more or less long term. The practices kept the appearance of games and sports training, but they actually were punishments, or even tortures, which, in addition to privations and numerous hardships ended in the methodical destruction of the bodies.
