"It is France that, along with Germany, has persecuted the most Jews." Spoken at the beginning of 1943, this phrase was not a denunciation, but an unashamed assertion by Andre Lavagne, the chief of Marshal Petain's civil cabinet. Indeed, France's leadership stood prominently among the governments of occupied Europe in its initiative and zeal in collaborating with the Nazis. Yet nearly three-quarters of the Jews living in France at the beginning of the war survived the "Final Solution." How was this possible? And what considerations motivated many prominent representatives of French...
"It is France that, along with Germany, has persecuted the most Jews." Spoken at the beginning of 1943, this phrase was not a denunciation, but an una...
In The Choice of the Jews under Vichy, Adam Rayski buttresses his analysis of war-era archival materials with his own personal testimony. His research in the archives of the military, the Central Consistory of the Jews of France, the police, and Philippe Petain demonstrates the Vichy government's role as a zealous accomplice in the Nazi program of genocide. He documents the efforts and absence of efforts of French Protestant and Catholic groups on behalf of their Jewish countrymen; he also explores the prewar divide between French-born and immigrant Jews, manifested in cultural conflicts and...
In The Choice of the Jews under Vichy, Adam Rayski buttresses his analysis of war-era archival materials with his own personal testimony. His research...
