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Signature. René Bousquet (French: [ʁəne buskɛ]; 11 May 1909 – 8 June 1993) was a high-ranking French political appointee who served as secretary general to the Vichy French police from May 1942 to 31 December 1943. For personal heroism, he had become a protégé of prominent officials before the war and had risen rapidly in the government.
- Philippe Pétain
- René Bousquet
- Louis Darquier de Pellepoix
- Paul Touvier
- Pierre Pucheu
A First World War hero, nicknamed the ‘Lion of Verdun‘, Pétain became Head of State following the fall of France in 1940. After months of brutal warfare and the realisation that there was no way France could continue to fight the Germans, many initially welcomed Pétain’s prominent reappearance in national politics. However, he quickly began to show...
Born in 1909, Bousquet became a national hero after rescuing dozens of people from drowning in floods: he was awarded the Legion of Honour and rose rapidly within the government, being named sous-préfet for Vitry-le-François in 1938, and a préfet in 1940 following the French armistice with Germany. In 1942, Bousquet was appointed general secretary ...
Darquier had long been involved in Fascist politics: his views, particularly on anti-Semitism, were well-known and well publicised. In 1942, he was appointed the Vichy’s Commissariat-General for Jewish Affairs: the SS had found his predecessor too moderate in his approach to what Darquier described as the ‘Jewish problem‘. Under Darquier, mass depo...
Touvier was born to a conservative Catholic family in 1915, and after a relatively obscure childhood, was mobilized for the war effort in 1939. The Touvier family were firm supporters of Philippe Pétain’s and although Paul initially fought against the Wehrmacht, he deserted the French army. The establishment of the Milice (Vichy France’s militia) o...
Pucheu was a successful industrialist: his politics, including opposition to the Munich Agreement, were initially aligned to his business interests, although he became increasingly right-wing in reaction to what he perceived as the growth of communism. Following the occupation in 1941, Pucheu’s political profile rose considerably and he was made Mi...
- Sarah Roller
Bousquet allegedly lied when he told the court that he “systematically refused to deal with the Jewish affairs,” claiming he had “always refused to treat these issues with the Germans.”
Jul 10, 2020 · Bousquet represented the loyal, efficient, technocratic elite whose role was to conform to the authority in place and enact its legislation. His case, it was assumed, would put Vichy on trial, and raise all the difficult unanswered questions about the continuities between that regime, the prewar Third Republic that came before it, and the postwar Fourth and Fifth Republics that followed in its ...
By the end of 16 July, Paris police, French officials and members of the antisemitic and fascist political party Parti Populaire Francais, led by Jacques Doriot, had rounded up over 11,000 people, including 3,625 children. 6,000 were sent immediately to the transit camp at Drancy. The remainder were kept in the Vel d’Hiv for the next five days.
Jun 13, 1993 · That at least helps to explain why the trials of Messrs. Bousquet, Papon and Touvier were endlessly delayed and why, to date, no Frenchman has had to answer in court for wartime crimes against Jews.
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Planning for the Vél d'Hiv roundup took place among René Bousquet, secretary general of the French national police; Louis Darquier de Pellepoix, Commissioner for Jewish Affairs under the Vichy Régime; SS-Hauptsturmführer Theodor Dannecker, head of Adolf Eichmann's Judenreferat (Jewish Section) in France; and SS-Oberstürmführer Helmut Knochen, head of the German Security Police in France.
