Being Jewish in Vichy under the Vichy Regime

After the German occupation of Belgium, Luxembourg, and Northern France in spring 1940, tens of thousands of Jewish refugees fled to the Unoccupied Zone of France, some thousands of them to the spa resort of Vichy. A few weeks later, remnants of the French government also relocated to Vichy. Many of the Jewish refugees greeted the arrival of Marshal Pétain, hoping for his protection. However, as this article shows, Vichy proved anything but a safe haven. A rigorous policy of evictions reduced the number of Jews there from a few thousand in 1940, and 600 in 1943, to a handful in 1944. These evictions raise questions about institutionalized violence prior to the turning point of 1942, when French officials deported tens of thousands of Jews to German death camps. Forcing Jews out of Vichy left them easy prey to the Milice and the Gestapo, increasing the likelihood of arrest and deportation.