Vichy France. Deportation of Jews from France before the Second World War - Essay Example

?Vichy France France, in the year 1940, after facing defeat in the hands of the Germans had most parts of the country captured by the armies of the Germans which had the control to overrun most of the country. The area of the country was sub-divided in two parts consisting of two main zones. The first part of the country was occupied by the Germans and was directly under their control. The Germans ruled the zone centering in Paris. The other area was still a free land under the control of the government of the country of France in which they had the right to rule that freely without the intervention of the German government. The free zone of the country was ruled by centering in Vichy. 1The French government of the free area of the country ruled from Vichy was named the Vichy France. The Vichy government of the country was to maintain law and order in the country as well as protect the Free State against the resistance of the German forces. 2The rule consists of period of four years. Though it was a free state it was under the shadow of the German rule and hence under the influence of the Nazism theories and beliefs. In the summer time of the year 1940, a series of what were called anti-Semitic measures were introduced in the area of Vichy France as it had its existence in the defeat of the country in the hands of the Nazis’ armies followed by the set of the collaboration policies that was urged by the country men of France during the period of the defeat. The German people, more specifically the then ruler of the country, Adolf Hitler was dead against the co existence of the Christians and the Jews in the same society. They had the feeling that the Jew were not socially suitable enough to live and enjoy the same facilities as the other people of the country could. They were considered the people of lower caste and social strata and hence forced out of the country and sometimes even punished severely without any guilt on their part however only for the reason that they were Jews by birth. The Jews were the people who were blamed by Hitler for the every misfortune that Germany experienced in previous periods and hence Adolf Hitler undertook a campaign to drive the Jews out of the country of Germany. This campaign of Hitler ultimately culminated in the holocaust3. Since the Vichy France had been ruling the country with the shadow of the Germans they also undertook campaigns in prosecution of the Jews from the country. Information from both the German government sources as well as the documents available from the Vichy France government provided trace regarding the vicissitudes of cooperation of France and Germany regarding the issue of the dealings with the Jews. The Vichy France government was proved to be the eager partner with the German in the persecution of the Jews.4 The Campaign in the Vichy France started in the summer of the year 1940 in which the government of the country with all its power and energy rested in their hands prosecuted the Jew residents out of their own homeland. The Jews of the country were driven out of Vichy France and from different public as well as private spheres of life of the country. A law was enforced in the region which clearly defined the identification of the Jews. Special discriminatory measures were imposed for the Jews of the Vichy France by the government of the region of the country. The Jews were thrown in certain special camps within the country and their movements were restricted within those particular camp areas and certain specific regions outside of that however only in certain reassigned times. In the summer of the year 1942 the final solution of the problem regarding the Jews residents residing in France were provided by the German government. There raised cases of arrest of the Jews of the country along with certain internments and deportations of the Jews in areas of Poland. All these incidents happened in Vichy France under the administration of the French government of the country and with their complicity. The frequencies of these incidents were reported of a continuous increase during the period. An official estimate made by the government of Germany revealed that about Seventy Six thousand Jews left the country of Vichy France during the period. A very important part of the responsibility of the disaster was played by Vichy France as the government of the country provided direct assistance in the campaigns of bringing misery to the lives of the Jews and evicted them out of the country. 5 Thus the paper attempts to explore the role played by Vichy France in the prosecution or the deportation of the Jews of the country out of their homeland before the Second World War. The period of the anti Jews movement under the rule of Vichy France was an important episode in the anti Semitism era of European history.6The Jews were being treated like inhuman in different countries of the eastern regions of the European continent especially more in Germany and also to certain extent in Italy and the neighboring nations. Anti- Semitism was the term that was used in referring to the Jews who were thought of as the sons of Shem and his wife of the Noah family as per the story of the bible. 7 The Jews were considered as the biggest enemy of humanity as well as of god. 8 However the then country of France was like a haven for the evicted Jews and many of them took shelter in the tolerant and the cosmopolitan country of France as they fled from the countries of Germany and others of the Eastern Europe. After the revolution of 1789, France had been the first European nation to make route for the Jews to escape inspite of anti-Semantic visions elsewhere and the nation held the majority of Jews in Europe. Fifty percent of this population was refugees from other places in Europe who were assured of protection from the country. The total number of the Jews residing in the occupied region of the country had been noted to be 165,000 and that of the unoccupied territory were 700,0009. The Jews in the country of France during the beginning of the French revolution in the country participated in it being integrated with the country as normal citizens and hence they had more acceptability in the country. 10This was the period of 1930s with the background of the ongoing civil war in Spain. In the year 1939 the Jewish community in France was the second largest in the total European continent with about three lakh thirty thousand Jews living in the society of the country with more than half of them being refugees as evicted from other European countries. The Jews residing in the border areas of France and Germany as well as in the occupied regions of the country of France were expelled from their homelands and sent to the unoccupied region of Vichy France by the Nazi army11. The Jews residing in France at that period were very much convinced of being protected by the commitments on the religious as well as political asylums of the country. However within a short while anti-Semitic views were popularized owing to the anti-republican movement Action Francaise supported by the Catholics and the army along with the civil service department and judiciary. This campaign was in favor of the extremist who did not accept the integration of the Jews into the mainstream Christian nation and identified them as conspirators. A powerful racist revolution was popularized in 1936. During this time the Socialist Popular Front government was headed by Jewish Prime Minister Leon Blum. The people were apprehensive about an oncoming Bolshevik revolution presided by the Jews. Accompanied with this the startling victory of Germany against France in 1940 led to the collapse of the democratic framework of the Third Republic and a French State presided over by Marechal Philippe Petain, a soldier of the First World War. Vichy, which was a spa in Auverge became the capital. his domain comprised of two thirds of the nation a the Germans divided the country into occupied and unoccupied areas12. Therefore, within a span of only ten years the situation of the country of France changed. Within the period of May and June of the year 1940 more than three fifth of the country of France were under the capture of the armies of the Nazi Germany and the democratic third republic get replaced by simple French state. In the southern hill resort of the town of Vichy the New France regime led their temporary camp. The unoccupied areas of the country that were ultimately left were administered from the region of Vichy. However since the victory of the Germans in most of the areas of the country the free regime was also to be ruled under the Armistice negotiated terms made with the victorious country of Germany. The legitimacy of the third republic of France was lost and vanished in the defeat of the country in the hands of the Germans. In reaction to this defeat the Vichy France undertook the program of the National Revolution that was believed by the people of the country to lead the country of France in a new tack. The ideology of traditionalism along with authoritarian rule was behind the policy of the national revolution. Remaining neutral in the war between the Nazis and the allies were also an integral part of the National revolution. Conspicuously and publicly the region of Vichy France was anti-Semitic. Some historians customarily assumed that the legislation of discrimination of the Jews residing in France and the ultimate death of over thousands of the Jews both of France as well as foreign countries of origin during 1942 to 1944 was imposed by the dominating and the ruling Nazi zealots on the ruling regime of the defeated country. According to some historians the government of the Vichy France had to do as per the order of the German government in order to protect the native French from the foreign attack. 13The sudden abrupt change of the climate of the country of France after the summer of the year 1940 that was once the place of haven for the Jews evicted from other countries was apparently because of this imposition made by the Nazi on them. However in accordance to some other historians, the administration of any territory could not be done by only providing force by the ruling power. There were the requirements of local guides and informants from within the country in most cases of determined conquer that were brutal. Proper study by the historians of the period of the evacuation of the Jews by the Vichy France revealed that the leeway of the French government in the measures that was taken against the Jews of the country were much more than was supposed. There were much more intricate interactions between the government of the vanquished country and that of the victorious one. By October of the year 1940 in order to seek protection from the government of Vichy France about one lakh fifty thousand Jews crossed the line of demarcation. But there also they experienced fierce discrimination as was performed by the Germans in the northern part of the country of France. Study revealed that after one or two years of the defeat of the country of France in the hands of the German matters related to the area of the Vichy France were not interrupted by the government of the conquering country. The matter regarding the fate of the Jews residing in the Vichy France were also not preoccupying the administrative thoughts of the German occupation authorities. The Germans were then preoccupied by the thoughts of focusing their energies and power in order to achieve the win over Britain and Russia in the war. The shortages of the manpower in their hands were also being their important concern. However the Vichy France was left in their own administrative methods and expenses by the German government. Indigenous and local French anti-Semitism worked in the part of Vichy France without the direct control and order of the Nazi government. The problem regarding the Jewish living in France as administered by the new Nazi government of the country was thought of to be solved in an own different way by the Vichy regime of France. Not only this with the help of the anti Jewish program undertaken by the ruling authority of Vichy France they had wanted to reassert the administrative control of the own country’s government in the German occupied areas of France. The anti-Semitic measures of the Germans in the occupied regions of the country of France were to be substituted by the anti Jewish program undertaken by Vichy France. The measures undertaken by Vichy France had no intention of killing. Their main policies were discrimination of the Jews of the country from the other residents. Various methods of discrimination of the Jews were undertaken. One such was the employment in the public sector of the country were restricted to individuals of pure French origin and not to the Jews in any way. The Jews were even forced to give up their residence to the government of Vichy France through the regime. 14 Inspite of getting autonomy from the policies of Germany, the Vichy leader launched the Jewish Statute. After a strong campaign, the Vichy Commission for Jewish Affairs ‘aryanised’ the businesses of the Jews and even seized their properties and possessions15. Not only for political or criminal offenses committed by the Jews but even for minor deflection from the laws prevailing in the country regarding racism, the Jews residing in both parts of occupied France as well as Vichy France could by arrested 16. According to the anti Jewish regime of Vichy France the Jews residing in the free France those who had migrated recently in the country were deemed as refractory to the culture of the country and hence thought of re-emigrating them. The Jews who were established in the country for longer period of time were thought of being submerged and assimilated in the French nation that were thought to be established newly as a homogeneous one. Thus the aim of the anti Jews policy of Vichy France was the presence of few Jews in the country in the long run. During the Wannsee Conference of January 1942, the Third Reich reached the decision regarding its strategy towards the Jews. The previous policy of eviction and repression was substituted by a different strategy of mass slaughter which comprised of the “final solution of the Jewish question”17. During the period ranging from 1942 to 1944 around 76000 Jewish residents of France were carried to the concentration camps in the east through transportation camps located in France18. Hence, in the year 1942 a new policy of deporting the Jews to the death camps set up by the Nazis in the eastern region of the European continent, removing them from the western European countries. The restrictive measures undertaken by the indigenous French government against the Jews residing in the country however remained effective for about two years. There occurred a neat merge of the anti Jewish project of the Germans and the urge of Vichy France in expelling the Jews out of the country. The political mainstream of the country of France experienced a merge of the feeling of Anti- Semitism. This blending with the traditional hatred of the Europeans towards the Jews resulted in the eruption of the national campaign against the Jews residing in Vichy France in the then period. 19 In the month of August of the year 1942 the Jews residing in Vichy France were handed over to the Nazi army for their deportation. Vichy France, the area of the country being not under the direct occupation of the German army became the first country other than Bulgaria to work over in accordance to their project in handling the fates of the Jew residents of the country. The confrontation camps that were under the control of the French government held about 40,000 Jews those were refugees from other countries. During the winters of the 40s and 41, about 3000 Jews lost their lives due to the lack of proper treatment facilities for them. The first mass arrests of the Jews of the country were carried out in the year 1941 by the police of the country of France. About 3747 Jews were arrested for being sent to the confrontation camp set by the Germans. In the month of July of the year 1942 12,884 Jews were again arrested by the police to be sent by the banishment train that was provided by the state railway of France. In the Vichy France the German government had not intervened in the matters related to the eviction of the Jews from the French state however anti Jewish program was carried out by the government of Vichy France and hence their crime on humanity was the worst. Not only severe arrests of the Jews were led by the police, children of the age of three to four years were departed from their parents before being sent to the confrontation camps. The only fault of them was that they were born in Jewish families and were Jews. As registered by the organization of the Jews a total value of about seventy five thousand, seven hundred and twenty one Jews were in total deported out of Vichy France by the administration of the free government of the country among them less than twenty thousand Jews had ultimately survived only. 20 More data revealed that during that particular period from both the occupied France and Vichy France about ninety thousand Jews of the total of about 2.5 lakh Jews residing were murdered by the Nazis in collaboration with the government of the country21. Despite of the complicity that aroused in the region there were no strong oppositions on the part of the residents of the country in protest against the act. Vichy France was providing police support for the proper handling of the operation of the deportation of the Jews from the country. In the late 1943 internal opposition were led by the elite groups as well as the church leaders of the country in order to protest against the act of the government in supporting the Nazis. Even after the war was over the next regimes hardly acknowledged the role of the association of Vichy rule in the destruction of the Jews. The Council seemed to discard any amends for the families of the deportees and claimed that the action of the Vichy rule was already compensated from 1945 onwards. However during a recent case where a lady sought for reparations for the sufferings at the time of occupation, the Council left the decision to Paris Court but acknowledged that the activities of the Vichy regime which led to deportation of the Jews were to be condemned and the country should take the responsibility22. Questions arise with respect to the common intention of the Vichy regime and the Nazi policy and the reason why the regime cooperated willingly. On explanation can be raised in the context of getting happily rid of the stateless Jews who were actually the migrants and hence a problem to France. However it was declared by Germany that around 40 percent of all Jews to be deported should be of French origin and nationality but this posed a risk to the Vichy regime especially since this would mean acting against the interest of the French citizens. Laval proposed the policy of deporting Jews from the unoccupied zone in order to protect the French Jews. Only if there was a shortfall the French Jews would be sent. Gradually the police became involved in the mass arrests to deport the Jews residents from all over France. int his context, Fox comments, “It is incorrect, ... to assume that Vichy France, consciously and deliberately, pursued its own policy of annihilating Jews through such forms of cooperation with the Nazis. One may certainly accuse the Vichy authorities of callousmess and inhumanity in this respect, but not of mass murder”23. The Discriminatory measures undertaken by Vichy France were sustained till the liberation of the country in the same month of August of the year 1944.24 With the oppositions from the upper strata of the society the mind of the common people of the country also experienced changes. Thousands of French families had been reported of saving the lives of the Jews by providing them shelter of living even by bringing risk to their lives.25 Moreover networks leading contracts that could prove to be life saving for the Jews in the Vichy France were also provided in certain cases to resist the anti Jewish regime undertaken by Vichy France in the country.26 The Jews should no longer be considered as a political body or a simple order of the state and they should be provided everything as required by an individual.27 Thus to conclude it can be said the Vichy France had played important role in the anti Jews program initiated by the German government. References 1. Halls, W. D. (1995), Politics, society and Christianity in Vichy France, Berg Publishers 2. Marrus M. R. & R.O. Paxton, (1995), Vichy France and the Jews, Stanford University Press 3. Chaikin, M. (1992),A nightmare in History, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 4. Arad, Y. Ya-shem, Y. & Yela-gevurah, R.H.L, (1990), The Pictorial History of the Holocaust, Berghahn Books 5. Webster, P. (2011), The Vichy policy on Jewish deportation, BBC History, available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/genocide/jewish_deportation_01.shtml (accessed on 21st May, 2011) 6. Barenbaum M. & A.J. Peck,(2002), The Holocaust and History, Indiana University Press 7. Crowe, D. (2008), The Holocaust, Westview Press 8. Friedman, J.C. (2011), The Routledge History of the Holocaust, Taylor & Francis 9. Rosenberg A. & G.E. Myers, (1990), Echoes From the Holocaust, Temple University Press 10. Ryan, D.F. (1996),The Holocaust & the Jews of Marseille, University of Illinois 11. Fogg, S.L. (2009), The Politics of everyday life in Vichy France, Cambridge University Press 12. Poznanski, R. (2001),Jews in France during World War 11, UPNE 13. Kedward, H. R.& R. Austin,(1985), Vichy France and the Resistance , Taylor & Francis 14. Curtis, M. (2003), Verdict on Vichy, Arcade Publishing 15. Halls, W.D. (1995), Politics, society and Christianity in Vichy France, Berg Publishers 16. Wyman, D.S. & C. H. Rosenzveig, (1996), The world reacts to the Holocaust, JHU Press 17. Weisberg R. & R. H. Weisberg, (1997), Vichy Law and the Holocaust in France, Routledge 18. The Wannsee Protocol, (2005), Holocaust Documents, A Teacher’s Guide to the Holocaust, University of South Florida, available at http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/resource/document/document.htm (accessed on 21st May, 2011) 19. Higgins, A. (1994), Book Review, History Review, University of Vermont, Vol 6, available at http://www.uvm.edu/~hag/histreview/vol6/higgins.html (accessed on 21st May, 2011) 20. Daily Mail Reporter (2009), France admits it sent Jews to the gas chambers during Second World War, Mail Online, available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1146982/France-admits-sent-Jews-gas-chambers-Second-World-War.html (accessed on May 22, 2011) 21. McNeil, T. (1998), France and the `Final Solution', available at: http://seacoast.sunderland.ac.uk/~os0tmc/occupied/final.htm (accessed on May 22, 2011) 22. Webster, P. (2011), “The Vichy Policy on Jewish Deportation”, BBC News, available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/genocide/jewish_deportation_01.shtml (accessed on May 22, 2011) Read More