Vichy France

Vichy France 

Following the German defeat of France in 1940-05, French and German officials signed an armistice on 1940-06-22. Under its terms, northern France came under direct German occupation. Southern France remained unoccupied and was governed by a French administration, headquartered in the city of Vichy. In July the French National Assembly voted to suspend the constitution of the Third Republic and placed the new ‘Vichy regime’ under the leadership of the aging Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain. Officially neutral, Vichy France collaborated closely with Germany. In closely patterned on that of German anti-Jewish decrees and ordinances in place in the German-occupied zone. In March 1941, a central agency, the Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives (General Commissariat for jewish Affairs), was established to coordinate anti-Jewish legislation and policy. Thousands of Jews were interned under deplorable conditions in French-administered detention camps, where at least three thousand individuals died during the war years. As deportation of Jews from western Europe began, German officials, aided by French throughout the summer of 1942. In 1942-11, German troops occupied Vicky’s formerly ‘free’ zone.