Maurice Papon - World War II

World War II

Mobilized on August 26, 1939 in the 2nd colonial infantry regiment, Papon was sent to Tripoli. He was assigned to direct the secret services in Ras-el-Aïn. He was next assigned to Syria.

After his return in November 1940, following the fall of France, Papon agreed to serve the Vichy government. His two mentors, senator Jean-Louis Dumesnil and Maurice Sabatier, voted on July 10, 1940 to grant extraordinary powers to Philippe Pétain. Papon was appointed as the vice-chief of bureau to the central administration of the Ministry of Interior, before being named in February 1941 vice-prefect, 1st class. The next month, he became Maurice Sabatier's general secretary, and general secretary of the administration for the Interior Minister. While Papon chose Vichy, 94 civil servants were revoked at the end of the spring of 1941, 104 pensioned off and 79 muted: as Le Monde put it, "neutrality is no longer an option".

In May 1942, his chief Sabatier was named prefect of Aquitaine by Pierre Laval, head of the Vichy government. Papon was appointed as general secretary of the prefecture of Gironde, in charge of Jewish Affairs.

Papon later claimed he had Gaullist tendencies during the war. A confidential report from the Nazis at the time shows that in April 1943, he identified as a "collaborationist", during "personal or official conversations." Another document of July 1943 called him a "good negotiator".

During World War II, Papon served as a senior police official in the Vichy regime. He was the number two official in the Bordeaux region (secretary general of the prefecture of Gironde) and supervisor of its Service for Jewish Questions. With authority over Jewish affairs, Papon regularly collaborated with Nazi Germany's SS Corps, responsible for the extermination of Jews. Under his command, approximately 1,560 Jewish men, women and children were deported. The majority were sent directly to the camp of Mérignac, from which they were transported to Drancy internment camp at the outskirts of Paris, and finally Auschwitz or similar concentration camps for extermination. From July 1942 to August 1944, 12 trains left Bordeaux for Drancy; approximately 1,600 Jews, including 130 children under 13, were deported. Few survived.

Papon also implemented the anti-Semitic laws voted by the Vichy government. By July 1942, he had "dejudaised" 204 companies, sold 64 land-properties owned by Jewish people, and was in the process of "dejudaising" 493 other businesses.

By mid-1944, when it was clear that the war was turning against the Germans, Papon began to prepare for the future, meeting once with Gaston Cusin, a civil servant engaged in the Resistance.