Led by

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain (; 24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), better known as Marshal Pétain (, ), was a French marshal who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the Collaboration with Nazi Ger ...

, 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 ...

that replaced the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France durin ...

in 1940 chose the path of collaboration with the Nazi occupiers. This policy included the Bousquet- Oberg accords of July 1942 that formalized the collaboration of the French police with the German police. This collaboration was manifested in particular by anti-Semitic measures taken by the Vichy government, and by its active participation in the

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

. The terms ''

Zone libre The ''zone libre'' (, ''free zone'') was a partition of the French metropolitan territory during World War II, established at the Second Armistice at Compiègne on 22 June 1940. It lay to the south of the demarcation line and was administered b ...

'' (Free Zone),

Vichy France 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 Battle of France, ...

, southern zone,

French State 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 G ...

, and ''État français'' are all synonyms and refer to the state in the south of France governed from Vichy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and headed by French

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

hero Marshal Philippe Pétain. The terms ''Zone occupée'' (Occupied Zone),

Occupied 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 ...

, and northern zone refer to the northern portion of France governed by the German military administration in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, taking orders from

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

1940

* July 10, 1940:

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 ...

induces Parliament to vote complete powers (constituent, legislative, executive and judicial) to Marshal

who becomes

Head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

of the

(État français). * July 21, 1940: Minister of Justice

Raphaël Alibert Henri Albert François Joseph Raphaël Alibert (; 17 February 1887 – 5 June 1963) was a French politician known for his association with the collaborationist regime of Vichy France during World War II. A royalist, traditionalist, and member ...

creates a board to review 500,000 naturalizations accorded since 1927. Withdrawal of nationality for 15,000 people, 40% of whom were Jews. * July 1940: Germans expel more than 20,000 Alsace-Lorraine Jews to the southern zone. * September 27, 1940: Ordinance on the status of Jews in the

Occupied Zone Military occupation, also called belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is temporary hostile control exerted by a ruling power's military apparatus over a sovereign territory that is outside of the legal boundaries of that ruling powe ...

. A census of Jews ("the Tulard file") and obligatory sign "Juif" meaning "Jew" on shops owned by Jews. * September 27, 1940: A Vichy law allows any foreigner "excessive to the national economy" to be interned among "groups of foreign workers". * October 3, 1940: first

law on the status of Jews Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

. French Jewish citizens are excluded from civil service, army, education, the press, radio and film. "Surplus" Jews are excluded from the professions. Article 9: This law is applicable to Algeria, to the

colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

, protectorates and mandated

territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

. * October 4, 1940: prefects can detain foreigners of Jewish extraction in special camps or to assign residence. * October 7, 1940: repeal of the 1871

Crémieux Decree The Crémieux Decree (; ) was a law that granted French citizenship to the majority of the Jewish population in French Algeria (around 35,000), signed by the Government of National Defense on 24 October 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. It was ...

; French nationality is removed from Jews from

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. * October 7, 1940:

Aryanization Aryanization () was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis powers, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. It enta ...

of businesses in the

1941

* March 29, 1941: creation of the

Commissariat-General for Jewish Affairs The Commissariat-General for Jewish Affairs (; C.G.Q.J.) was a special administration established in March 1941 by the collaborationist Vichy government of France in order to introduce anti-Jewish legislation. History While anti-Jewish legisl ...

(CGQJ), with

Xavier Vallat Xavier Vallat (December 23, 1891 – January 6, 1972) was a French politician and antisemite who was Commissioner-General for Jewish Questions in the wartime collaborationist Vichy government, and was sentenced after World War II to ten years ...

as the first commissioner. * May 11, 1941: Creation of the '' Institut d'étude des questions juives'', an anti-Semitic propaganda agency, financed by the nazis (

Theodor Dannecker Theodor Dannecker (27 March 1913 – 10 December 1945) was a German SS-captain (), a key aide to Adolf Eichmann in the deportation of Jews during World War II. A trained lawyer, Dannecker first served at the Reich Security Main Office in Berlin ...

) and directed by French antisemitic agitators Paul Sézille, René Gérard and others. * May 14, 1941: the green ticket roundup () organized by the

Prefecture of Police In France, a Prefecture of Police (), headed by the Prefect of Police (), is an agency of the Government of France under the administration of the Ministry of the Interior. Part of the National Police, it provides a police force for an area lim ...

with the agreement of the general delegation of the French government in the occupied zone and upon demand by the occupying authorities: 3,747 Jewish foreigners, (out of 6,494 summoned by the prefecture) were crammed into the

Pithiviers Pithiviers () is a commune in the Loiret department, north central France. It is one of the subprefectures of Loiret. It is twinned with Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, England and Burglengenfeld in Bavaria, Germany. Its attractions in ...

and Beaune-la-Rolande internment camps under French administration. *June 2, 1941: Second law on the status of Jews Law of 2 June 194, the second law concerning Jews. Compared to the first one, an increasingly stringent definition of who is a Jew, additional professional work restrictions, quotas in University (3%) and the liberal professions (2%). Jews were obligated to take part in a census in the ''

''. Article 11 of the Statute: "This law is applicable to Algeria, the colonies, protectorates and territories under mandate. This law authorizes prefects to perform

administrative detention Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism ...

of Jews of French nationality.". * July 21, 1941:

of Jewish companies in the ''Zone libre''. * August 1941: Occupied zone: internment of 3,200 foreign and 1,000 French Jews in various camps including

Drancy Drancy () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris in the Seine-Saint-Denis department in northern France. It is located 10.8 km (6.7 mi) from the center of Paris. History Toponymy The name Drancy comes from Medieval Lati ...

. * November 29, 1941: creation of the UGIF (''

Union générale des israélites de France The General Union of French Israelites (, UGIF) was a body created by the antisemitic French politician Xavier Vallat under the Vichy regime after the Fall of France in World War II. UGIF was created by decree on 29 November 1941 followin ...

''), facilitating the tracking and classification of Jews in France. Created by decree under pressure by Nazi Germany. * December 1941: Occupied zone: 740 French Jews, members of the liberal and intellectual professions, interned in

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 ...

1942

* January 1942: Wannsee Conference: Nazi officials define the practical arrangements for the "

Final Solution The Final Solution or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question was a plan orchestrated by Nazi Germany during World War II for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews. The "Final Solution to the Jewish question" was the official ...

", that is to say, the complete extermination of European Jewry, including children. * 27 March 1942: The first convoy of Jewish deportees leaves Compiègne (Frontstalag 122) towards an

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 ...

. * May 20, 1942: Occupied zone: Compulsory wearing of yellow Jewish star badge. (effective June 7). * July 2, 1942: Oberg- Bousquet agreement for collaboration between French and German police, in the presence of

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( , ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a German high-ranking SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He held the rank of SS-. Many historians regard Heydrich ...

, Himmler's deputy. * July 16–17, 1942: Roundup of the Vel d'Hiv: arrest of 13,152 "stateless" Jews (3,031 men, 5,802 women and 4,051 children). * July 19, 1942: failed , after Jews were warned overnight to flee by Nancy Police Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Édouard Vigneron. * 26–28 August 1942 ''

'': series of roundups resulting in the deportation of 7,000 people.

1943

* January 1943: Roundup of Marseille: destruction of the Old Port and roundups by French authorities. Nearly 2,000 Marseilles Jews arrested and deported. ''Le Petit Marseillais'' of January 30, 1943 wrote: "Note that the evacuation operations in the Northern district of the Old Port were carried out exclusively by French police and that no incidents were reported.Maurice Rajsfus, ''La Police de Vichy. '' The Opera district, where many

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

families lived, was emptied of its inhabitants. * February 1943: Lyon raid on the premises of the

(UGIF, General Union of French Jews). * September 8, 1943:

surrender of Italy The Armistice of Cassibile ( Italian: ''Armistizio di Cassibile'') was an armistice that was signed on 3 September 1943 by Italy and the Allies, marking the end of hostilities between Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was made public ...

leading to the Allied occupation of Italian-occupied France hitherto spared from roundups. * April 1943:

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

and

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

roundups. * September 1943: roundups of

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

and

Isère Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.

. * August 15, 1944: last deportation convoy from

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, , ; or simply ; ) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population of 147,284 (2020). Its metropolitan area () had 504,157 inhabitants at the 2018 ...

Publications

* * , ''Le Commissariat général aux questions juives (1940-1944)'', he general commission for Jewish affairs 1940044 éditions du Centre, Paris, 3 vol., 1955–1960. * , ''Au bureau des affaires juives. L’administration française et l’application de la législation antisémite (1940-1944)'', t the Jewish affairs bureau. French administration and the application of antisemitic legislation 1940-44 La Découverte, Paris, 2006. * (ed.), ''Persécutions et spoliations des Juifs pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale'', ersecution and plundering of Jews during the second world war Presses universitaires de Grenoble, Grenoble, 2004. * , ''Voler les juifs. Lyon, 1940-1944'', obbing the Jews Hachette, 2002. * Renée Dray-Bensousan, ''Les Juifs à Marseille (1940-1944)'', arseille Jews 1940-44 Les Belles Lettres, Paris, 2004. * Jean-Marc Dreyfus, ''Pillages sur ordonnances. Aryanisation et restitution des banques en France, 1940-1953'', egal plunder. Aryanization and the reestablishment of French banking, 1940-1953 Fayard, Paris, 2003. * Michaël Iancu, ''Spoliations déportations, résistance des Juifs à Montpellier et dans l’Hérault (1940-1944)'', lunder, deportation, resistance of Montpelier Jews and in the Hérault éditions Alain Barthélémy, Avignon, 2000. *

Laurent Joly Laurent Joly (born 26 July 1976) is a French historian and a specialist of Vichy France and antisemitism. Life and career Born in 1976, Joly earned a doctorate in history at the Pantheon-Sorbonne University, following a thesis on "Vichy and the ...

, ''Vichy dans la « solution finale ». Histoire du Commissariat général aux questions juives, 1941-1944'', ichy and the "final solution". History of the general commission for Jewish affairs, 1941-44 Grasset, Paris, 2006. * , ''Les Juifs pendant l’Occupation'', ews during the occupation Points Seuil, Paris, 1997. *

Beate Klarsfeld Beate Auguste Klarsfeld (née Künzel; born 13 February 1939) is a Franco-German journalist and Nazi hunter who, along with her French husband, Serge, became famous for their investigation and documentation of numerous Nazi war criminals, inc ...

Serge Klarsfeld Serge Klarsfeld (born 17 September 1935) is a Romanian-born French activist and Nazi hunter known for documenting the Holocaust in order to establish the record and to enable the prosecution of war criminals. Since the 1960s, he has made notable ...

, (ed.), ''Le mémorial de la déportation des juifs de France'', emorial to the deportation of the Jews of France Paris, 1978. *

, ''Vichy-Auschwitz, la « solution finale » de la question juive en France'', ichy-Auschwitz, the "final solution" of the Jewish question in France Fayard, Paris, 3rd ed. 2001. * Florent Le bot, ''La fabrique réactionnaire. Antisémitisme, spoliations et corporatisme dans le cuir, 1930-1950'', eactionary factories. Antisemitism, plunder and corporatism in leather manufacturing Presses de Sciences Po, Paris, 2007. * Jean Laloum, ''Les Juifs dans la banlieue parisienne des années 20 aux années 50'', ews of the Parisian ''banlieue'' in the 1920s to 1950s CNRS éditions, Paris, 1998. * * * Renée Poznanski, ''Les Juifs en France pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale'', ews in France during the second world war Hachette, Paris, 1997; 1st ed. 1994. * , ''Aux prises avec Vichy, Histoire politique des Juifs de France'', 1940-1944 oping with Vichy, political history of French Jewry, 1940-1944 éditions Calmann-Lévy, Paris, 1998. * Philippe Verheyde, ''Les mauvais comptes de Vichy. L’aryanisation des entreprises juives'', ichy's bad accounts. The aryanization of Jewish businesses Perrin, Paris, 1999. * Richard H. Weisberg, ''Vichy, la justice et les juifs'', éd. des archives contemporaines, Amsterdam, 1998; 1st ed. New York, 1996.

References