France 'responsible' for Holocaust deaths

by Rachel Nixon | February 16, 2009 at 10:53 am

617 views | 43 Recommendations | 11 comments

The Council of State, the highest court in France, has ruled that the country bears responsibility for sending thousands of Jews to their deaths during World War II.

It ruled that Nazi officials had not forced the Vichy government of the time to betray their fellow citizens, but that anti-Semitic persecution had been carried out willingly.

But the court also acknowledged that measures taken since the end of the war had compensated for the damage caused by the Vichy government. It stated that no payments would be made to survivors or families of those who had died in concentration camps.

Northern France was directly occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II while the south of the country was ruled by the Vichy government that collaborated with Adolf Hitler.

France's role in the deportation of its Jews was a taboo subject for decades after the war.

The trial of Maurice Papon, a civil servant in the collaborationist Vichy government, for deporting Jews, forced the country to confront its role in the Holocaust.

Papon was convicted in 1998 by a French court for complicity in crimes against humanity for his role in the deportation of 1,590 Jews from the city of Bordeaux.

After the war, successive governments refused to accept any responsibility for the acts of the Vichy administration. It was only in the mid-1990s that the situation changed.

In 1995, former French President Jacques Chirac officially recognised the French state's responsibility in the deportation of French Jews, putting an end to decades of ambiguity by successive governments.

'These dark hours forever sully our history and are an insult to our past and our traditions,' he said.

'Yes, the criminal folly of the occupiers was seconded by the French, by the French state.'

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Yellow Guitar

at 14:03 on February 16th, 2009

It is good that France is taking responsibility for its treatment of Jews during WW2. The fact is France has a long history of antisemitism. Why exactly French Judeophobia did not crystallize along the same apocalyptic-racist lines as Nazi Germany's is the subject of an excellent book by Philippe Burrin entitled NAZI ANTI-SEMITISM: From Prejudice to the Holocaust. In it he outlines how Germany's situation was unique in producing a 'totalitarian' kind of anti-Jewish state. France is not less guilty of anti-Semitism; but it was not as highly developed due to France's institutions.

If you are fortunate enough to get to Paris, I recommend the Holocaust Museum. It is a powerful memorial/mausoleum with ashes from each of the camps where French Jews were murdered. In addition there are documents that trace the lives and deaths of individuals and families from arrest through deportation and death.

The center was established with intention of forcing French citizens to come to grips with the role they played in the attempted annihilation of European Jewry.

Fripouille

at 14:49 on February 16th, 2009

There is also the "Centre d'Histoire et de la Déportation" here in Lyon. I live a few hundred yards from it. It's situated in what was the Gestapo Headquarters during the war. It is an excellent and vivid testimony to what happened here.

It was bombed towards the end of the war by the British and the Americans. These bombings didn't inflict great damage, but stray bombs killed civilians living in the area.

So, if you go there, don't ask anyone over 50 for directions once in the area. Long-time residents detest the Allies, and I have personally heard them say so on several occasions, and in very bitter terms, in local bars....

Yellow Guitar

at 17:15 on February 16th, 2009

Thanks Frip. I will visit the place if I'm fortunate to get back to France anytime soon. Cheers.

Fripouille

at 17:22 on February 16th, 2009

Pleasure's mine YG.

Let me know if ever you do!

After the visit (well worth it) a coupla beers, a little jammin' and a good restaurant might just help the jetlag!!

Yellow Guitar

at 19:59 on February 16th, 2009

Now you're speaking my language mate. I will definitely take you up on that kind offer when I get back to France. Cheers, and thanks again for the info on the memorial.

Uwe Paschen

at 15:08 on February 16th, 2009

Interesting, No one likes that subject in France. It is Avoided even denied, especially the French enrolment of it.

The Last SS fighter fighting where the French SS divisions. Yes they existed in the Records, but not in the French History books.

Fripouille

at 15:33 on February 16th, 2009

Correct Paschen. You are talking here about the "Charlemagne Division", which was formed in 1944 and was composed of French Wermacht volunteers who were already fighting, and elements of the French Militia who fled France in 1944. In other words, they were either convinced fascists or people who knew that their days were numbered if ever they went home. They were part of Hitler's last and desperate efforts to win the war. They were almost all killed.

There were 8000 of them at first. Many were killed in Poland and Russia, and only 700 were left to go back and defend Hitler's bunker in Berlin. Only 30 survived the Berlin offensive, and the majority of them were either executed in Berlin or sent to labour camps.

The French are almost totally unaware of their existence.......

Uwe Paschen

at 16:09 on February 16th, 2009

You are correct Fripouille, however it was the Waffen SS division Charlemagne and not the Wermacht, the Wermacht was the regular armed force and whose Officers tried to assassinate Hitler on four occasions. Where as the Waffen SS did endorse Fascism Full Hearted.

Fripouille

at 16:31 on February 16th, 2009

Yip, I meant to say that the elements concerned were in the Wehrmacht before, but that they transferred, or were forcibly transferred, to Charlemagne in '44. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Moreover, the Wehrmacht was a fine and honourable army, well disciplined and well led (Von Paulus etc...). American and English vets alike have respect for the Wehrmacht's honour...and, of course, the refusal by Wehrmacht Generals to send their depleted units to certain death to defend Berlin is well known, and their actions helped efforts to end the war as soon as possible.

The Waffen SS on the other hand......

djermano

at 17:03 on February 16th, 2009

Marie and Pierre Curie and the Discovery of Polonium and Radium..

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/articles/curie/.......

I have to agree with you Rachel......they certainly were responsible for creating the Atomic bomb....which France may be credited for destroying the World....as well. Time will tell.

In fact France gave the Atomic Bomb to Israel......creating the inbalance of power in the Middle East...creating the quest for all countries in the world to have this so called military security.....Those who own the bomb own the Energy Oil supplies of the world.

France gave it to the USA so they could be the first nation in the world to try out Marie and Pierre's discovery...They were sure not to drop it anywhere near France or Germany. In fact they dropped it on innocent people, and it worked so well......they wanted 2nd's in trying it again....so they dropped another....and boy did they get the bang for the buck they wanted. Now Israel can become a nation.....because France can make some money by selling the bomb to Israel....Now Israel has the bomb.....and they prove they are the stuff to be reckoned with......That's right the USA and Russia may have recognized Israel as a nation, but it was France who actually gave them the real wherewithal to prove it.

Now as France is clearly the cause to the Holocaust Deaths.....it rather spills over into the Middle East now.......France is on a roll.......

Rev. Jermano

gerrypopplestone

at 14:03 on February 25th, 2009

Yeah, I think that is a good decision although its a bit late now. The French were very complicit and their films still show their ambivalence to the occupation and the guilt they feel. But it makes for very good filming.