Jacques Barnaud (born 24 February 1893 in

Antibes Antibes (, also , ; oc, label=Provençal, Antíbol) is a coastal city in the Alpes-Maritimes department of southeastern France, on the Côte d'Azur between Cannes and Nice. The town of Juan-les-Pins is in the commune of Antibes and the Sop ...

– died 15 April 1962 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

) was a French banker, businessman and member of the

collaborationist Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime, and in the words of historian Gerhard Hirschfeld, "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to t ...

Vichy regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. A graduate of the

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern Franc ...

, Barnaud worked for the

Banque Worms The Banque Worms was a merchant bank founded by Hypolite Worms in 1928 as a division of Worms & Cie. The banking services division provided financing services to other branches of Worms & Cie, which were involved in ship building, shipping and th ...

as an executive from 1928 to 1939. He was enthusiastic about the

and following the appointment of

François Darlan Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan (7 August 1881 – 24 December 1942) was a French admiral and political figure. Born in Nérac, Darlan graduated from the '' École navale'' in 1902 and quickly advanced through the ranks following his servic ...

as Prime Minister of France in February 1941, Barnaud was brought into the government as Delegate General for Franco-German Economic Relations. Along with the likes of Jean Bichelonne,

François Lehideux François Lehideux (30 January 1904 – 21 June 1998) was a French industrialist and member of the Vichy government. Car industry In 1929 Lehideux married the daughter of Fernand Renault, and soon became a leading figure in the Renault car compa ...

and

Pierre Pucheu Pierre Firmin Pucheu (27 June 1899 – 20 March 1944) was a French industrialist, fascist and member of the Vichy government. He became after his marriage the son-in-law of the Belgian architect Paul Saintenoy. Early years The son of a tailor f ...

, he was a member of a group of technocrats who were important in the early days of the Vichy regime. Barnaud worked with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

during the

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

in order to secure deals to supply them with

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in AmE, American and CanE, Canadian English) is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately o ...

and

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, a ...

from

French Indo-China French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

.Michael Curtis (2003) ''Verdict on Vichy'', Phoenix. p. 259 . He did, however successfully oppose a plan suggested by

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

that the Nazis collect France's church bells and melt them down for their metal content, feeling that such a scheme would breed too much resentment against the Nazi occupiers.Elizabeth Campbell Karlsgodt (2011) ''Defending National Treasures: French Art and Heritage Under Vichy'', Stanford University Press. p. 148. Barnaud was arrested in October 1944, on charges of providing the enemy with intelligence. After several delays the charges were dismissed in 1949. He returned to his business interests and amassed a fortune in post-war France.

References

1893 births 1962 deaths People from Antibes People of Vichy France French bankers French collaborators with Nazi Germany French prisoners and detainees Order of the Francisque recipients {{France-business-bio-stub Prisoners and detainees of France