Vichy France and the Jews

by Michael R. Marrus, Robert Paxton, Stanley Hoffmann (Foreword)

with a new Foreword [1995] by Stanley Hoffmann
Counter What part did Vichy France really play in the Nazi effort to murder Jews living in France? Few questions, from the end of World War II to the present day, have so haunted French society. This book, now a classic, is the definitive account of Vichy's own antisemitic policies and practices and a major contribution to the history of the Jewish tragedy in wartime Europe. It was originally described in published reviews as 'superb and definitive' and 'brilliant [and] utterly absorbing'. The authors' 'exhaustive research and the sobriety of their prose make this indictment far more powerful than previous work on the subject.' The book 'is something of a spiritual history of a great democratic nation sunk in the squalor of moral collapse.'

Genres: History, Holocaust, World War II, France, Nonfiction, Germany

456 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 1995

About the author

Michael Robert Marrus, CM FRSC is a Canadian historian of France, the Holocaust and Jewish history. He was born in Toronto and received his BA at the University of Toronto in 1963 and his MA and PhD at the University of California, Berkeley in 1964 and 1968. He is a Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies at the University of Toronto.

Marrus is an expert on the history of French Jewry and anti-semitism. He co-wrote with Robert Paxton a book on Vichy France that shows that the anti-semitism of Vichy was not imposed by the Germans, that at times Vichy was more brutal towards the French Jews than the Germans and the French state played a leading and indispensable role in organizing the deportation of Jews to death camps. Furthermore, Marrus and Paxton argued that Vichy was more brutal than other European states occupied by the Germans.

Marrus's book the Holocaust in History is a well-regarded historiographical survey. Marrus wants the Holocaust to be seen as tragedy for humanity, not just Jews. In his book, Marrus was able to offer a synthesis such as the Functionalist vs Intentionalist views of the origins of the Holocaust.

In 2001, after failing to gain access to the Vatican archives from the period after 1923, the International Catholic-Jewish Historical Commission disbanded amid controversy. Unsatisfied with the findings, Marrus said the commission "ran up against a brick wall.... It would have been really helpful to have had support from the Holy See on this issue."

Professor Michael Marrus was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2008.

Marrus married Randi Greenstein in 1971 and has three children.

~from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_...

Reviews

[Lewis Weinstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marrus brutally documents the role of the Vichy government and the French police in the deportation and subsequent murder of 75,000 French Jews.

... Oct 1940 ... A new Vichy law authorized prefects to intern foreign Jews in special camps, or to assign them to live under police surveillance in remote villages

... Conditions at Rivesaltes (one of the camps set up by the French to hold French Jews until the Nazis were ready for them) were scandalous … a vast encampment of wooden barracks spread over 3 km of open stony plain near the Mediterranean … whirling dust, lack of water, deplorable conditions of uncleanliness … humanistic had to walk 150 m from the infirmary to an outdoor water closet ... No heat ... What food there was arrived stone cold ... Children were separated from their mothers ... Inadequate fuel ... Women have no underclothes ... No shoes ... Many died

... Freight trains were preferred because fewer police were required to guard them would be the case with passenger trains

... Vichy (Laval) was determined that children should remain with their parents who are being deported … "not a single one is to remain in France"

... There was almost total silence from the Catholic hierarchy in the face of the anti-Jewish legislation and internment ... an exception was Cardinal Gerlier, archbishop of Lyon ... Intervened on behalf of Jewish internees … protested against the terrible conditions in the camps

... AND YET, SOME HELPED ... Every Jew who survived in France during 1942 to 1944 owed his or her life to some French man or woman who helped, or at least kept a secret

[AndyL · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the interests of full disclosure, the review that follows is likely influenced by the fact that my father, along with his brother and parents (my grandparents and uncle), were interned in various detention camps in France until they luckily were able to leave in March of 1942 (my father was 9 at the time of their departure), only a few months before Jews were transported to Drancy for subsequent deportation to Auschwitz. Relying on a vast array of government documents and memoirs, the authors exhaustively examine the behavior of the French during the four years of German occupation of the northern France and Vichy rule over Southern France. In doing so, the authors counter the once accepted notion that the French collaboration in the arrest and deportation of French Jews was the result of German pressure rather than antisemitism and a desire to rid France of "foreign" influence on the nation. Indeed, the authors show that the Vichy anti-Jewish legislation not only preceded the Nazi legislation in the Occupied Zone but, in many respects, including in defining who was a Jew, went beyond Nazi legislation. Further, the authors conclusively show how the Vichy, with no or little prompting, were willing to assist the Nazis in identifying and rounding up and arresting and then deporting Jews. As one German official later said, in substance, the Nazis could never have "accomplished" as much as they did without French assistance. That said, a greater percentage of French Jews survived than Jews in other countries. However, the authors show that this was not the result of French concern for the Jews. Rather, it was the product of various factors, including the progress of the war. In that regard, one interesting section of the book was a comparison -- not flattering to the French -- between the conduct of the Vichy and that of Hungary and Rumania, countries popularly viewed as more antisemitic than France. To the extent I have any criticisms of the book, I would have liked some more background on the history and failures of the Popular Front. And I would have liked a short chapter that covered the ultimate fate of the French Vichy officials who collaborated with the Nazis. But these are minor quibbles to an outstanding history of an important period of French history.

[James Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just finished reading Vichy France and the Jews by Michael R. Marrus and Robert O. Paxton which is a book that highlights and explains the engrained antiSemiticism rampant in France during the second world war. At times the French tried to augment the Anti-Jewish policies of the Germans. In doing so, the authors' thesis, the Vichy government was creating French NationaIism which was sorely lacking.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for Vichy France seminar at Yale University.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic text on the Holocaust in France - am perusing it for wisdom and grounding for an upcoming speech.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comprehensive and much-needed explanation of Vichy's ACTUAL treatment of the Jews. A must-read for anyone interested in this part of history.

[Natalie Griffitts · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for an understanding of the Vichy regime, its phases, actions, and the significance of their collaboration with the Germans.

** This work IS cited.