Language:
French
Year of publication:
2020
Titel der Quelle:
Vichy, les Français et la Shoah; un état de la connaissance scientifique
Angaben zur Quelle:
212 (2020) 215-231
Keywords:
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Freemasonry History 20th century
Abstract:
This article offers a step-by-step account of the application of several discriminatory laws that affected the Ministry of Agriculture, an unremarkable and technical ministry within the Vichy regime. Assistant General Secretary René Huguet was essentially the sole person in charge of this process. Out of tens of thousands of employees, only 34 were identified as Jewish. Seventeen were immediately fired as a result of the First Jewish Statute of October 1940. Two employees were laid off at a later date, and two more were fired as part of the more severe Second Statute of June 1941. In total, 24 were laid off, and ten were retained. Documents in the National Archives of France reveal that Huguet and the various department heads adhered to the regulations as instructed by the government but did not do so enthusiastically. Responses to inquests from the Commissariat-General for Jewish Affairs were slow and factual. In contrast, Huguet was overzealous in his persecution of Freemasons, and his actions were sometimes harsher than required by law. He complained to the government that Masonic dignitaries were not treated as repressively as Jews. Regarding women, however, Huguet expressed clear opposition to the laws intended to force them out of public service. He managed to reverse the regulations in favor of women who opted to retire early. This study demonstrates that ministries, particularly the technical ones, enjoyed significant independence when implementing the regime’s discriminatory laws.
Note:
With an English abstract.
URL:
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