The Marseille roundup was the systematic deportation of the

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

in the Old Port between 22 and 24 January 1943 under the

Vichy regime Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

during the

German occupation of France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...

. Assisted by the

French police Law enforcement in France is centralized at the national level. Recently, legislation has allowed local governments to hire their own police officers which are called the ''Municipal Police (France), police municipale''. There are two nation ...

, directed by

René Bousquet René Bousquet (; 11 May 1909 – 8 June 1993) was a high-ranking French political appointee who served as secretary general to the Vichy French police from May 1942 to 31 December 1943. For personal heroism, he had become a protégé of promin ...

, the Germans organized a raid to arrest Jews. The police checked the

identity document An identity document (abbreviated as ID) is a documentation, document proving a person's Identity (social science), identity. If the identity document is a plastic card it is called an ''identity card'' (abbreviated as ''IC'' or ''ID card''). ...

s of 40,000 people, and the operation sent 2,000 Jews first to

Fréjus Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...

, then to the camp of Royallieu near

Compiègne Compiègne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department of northern France. It is located on the river Oise (river), Oise, and its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois'' (). Administration Compiègne is t ...

, in the Northern Zone of France, and then to

Drancy internment camp Drancy internment camp () was an assembly and detention camp for confining Jews who were later deported to the extermination camps during the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, German occupation of France duri ...

, last stop before the

extermination camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe, primarily in occupied Poland, during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocau ...

s. The operation also encompassed the expulsion of an entire neighborhood (30,000 persons) before its destruction. Located in the Old Port, the 1st arrondissement was considered by the Germans to be a "terrorist nest" because of its small, windy and curvy streets For this occasion, SS leader

Carl Oberg Carl Albrecht Oberg (27 January 1897 – 3 June 1965) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. He served as Senior SS and Police Leader (HSSPF) in occupied France, from May 1942 to November 1944, during the Second World War, Oberg cam ...

, in charge of the German Police in France, made the trip from Paris, and transmitted to Bousquet orders directly received from

Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...

. It is a notable case of the French police's collaboration with the German occupiers.

Destruction of the Old Port

The operation was intended to reshape the area of the Old Port, a popular neighborhood whose small, curved and winding streets were considered dangerous by the German authorities. The Germans used for this an

urbanist Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, a profession focusing on the design and management of urban a ...

plan prepared by French architects who supported the Vichy

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

of "National Revolution" ('). They decided to almost totally destroy the 1st arrondissement of Marseille. At Himmler's order, the population was evacuated to concentration camps in the Northern Zone, in particular at

. The Old Port itself was searched house by house by the German police, assisted by their French counterparts, and then the buildings were

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

d. Mandated by the head of Vichy,

Pierre Laval Pierre Jean Marie Laval (; 28 June 1883 – 15 October 1945) was a French politician. He served as Prime Minister of France three times: 1931–1932 and 1935–1936 during the Third Republic (France), Third Republic, and 1942–1944 during Vich ...

, Bousquet demanded on 14 January 1943 that the operation be postponed for a week to improve its organization and have police reinforcements. Furthermore, while the Germans were focussed on the 1st arrondissement of Marseille, Bousquet spontaneously extended the operation to the entire city. According to historian

Maurice Rajsfus Maurice Rajsfus (9 April 1928 – 13 June 2020) was a French writer, journalist, historian and anti-establishment militant. He was the author of numerous books addressing themes such as the Jewish genocide in France, the police, and attacks on ci ...

, he also requested complete freedom of action for the French police, which he obtained from SS

Karl Oberg Carl Albrecht Oberg (27 January 1897 – 3 June 1965) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. He served as Senior SS and Police Leader (HSSPF) in occupied France, from May 1942 to November 1944, during the Second World War, Oberg came ...

. According to historian Jacques Delarue, a witness to the operation, 200 police inspectors from Paris and elsewhere, 15 ''compagnies'' of the ''

Groupe mobile de réserve The ''Groupes mobiles de réserve'' (), abbreviated as GMR, were paramilitary gendarmerie units created by the Vichy regime during the Second World War. Their development was the special task of René Bousquet, Vichy director-general of the Frenc ...

'' (GMR) and squads of French ''

gendarmes A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (). In France and som ...

'' and mobile guards (''gardes mobiles)'' were brought to Marseille for the operation. In total, "approximatively 12,000 police men found themselves concentrated in Marseille.". On 22 January 1943 the Old Port was completely locked down. The city, except for the more wealthy, residential, neighborhoods, was searched house-by-house over a period of 36 hours. "In total, following tens of thousands of checks, nearly 2,000 Marseillese... found themselves in the death trains." wrote historian Maurice Rajsfus. In addition, 1,500 buildings were destroyed. The

Prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

of the

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( ; , ; ; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a Departments of France, department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var (department), Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the sout ...

published a public statement on 24 January 1943:

For reasons of military order and to guarantee the safety of the population, the German military authorities officially ordered the French administration to proceed immediately with the evacuation of the north end of the Old Port. For its part, the French administration decided on the grounds of internal security to carry out a vast police operation to rid Marseille of certain elements whose activities posed great risks to the population. The French administration worked hard to avoid mixing up the two operations. Sizeable police forces carried out numerous searches in the quarter. Entire neighbourhoods were surrounded and identity checks were made. More than 6,000 individuals were arrested and 40,000 identities were checked.

The newspaper '' Le Petit Marseillais'' of 30 January 1943 added:

Let us be clear that the operations for the evacuation of the Old Port were carried out exclusively by the French police and that they did not give rise to any incidents.

German newspapers also acclaimed the operation. Walther Kiaulehn wrote in the German military newspaper ''

Signal A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

'':

In the future, when we shall write the history of Marseilles, we will underline this remarkable feat that by having evacuated the old patrician neighborhood, which had been dishonored by the 20th century, the operation had used French and German policemen, as a group of engineers and physicians.

A photo taken during this operation, and known since the beginning of the 1980s, shows head of French police René Bousquet posing with regional German police head of the SS, a high level officer of

Totenkopf ''Totenkopf'' (, i.e. ''skull'', literally "dead person's head") is the German word for skull. The word is often used to denote a figurative, graphic or sculptural symbol, common in Western culture, consisting of the representation of a human s ...

, regional ''prefect'' Marcel Lemoine, and Pierre Barraud, delegate prefect of Marseille. While 30,000 were expelled from their neighborhood, people from the criminal underworld, such as

Paul Carbone Paul Bonnaventure Carbone (1 February 1894 – 16 December 1943) was a Corsican criminal involved in the Marseille underworld from the 1920s until his death in 1943. He was known as the ''Emperor of Marseille''. Associated with François Spiri ...

, voluntarily surrendered at the beginning of the week, to be jailed while the "horrible show" took place. Several hundreds of Jews of Marseille, both

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

and foreign, were first sent to

, than to the camp of Royallieu near Compiègne, and finally to

, from where they were sent to the extermination camps. In total, 2,000 Jews were put on the death trains.Quoted by Rajsfus, 1995, p.212

References

Sources

, ''La Police de Vichy. Les forces de l’ordre françaises au service de la Gestapo, 1940/44'' ( Le Cherche Midi éditeur, 1995 - in particular chapter XIV, ''La Bataille de Marseille'', pp. 209–217)

Destruction of the Old Port

See also

References

Sources

Further reading