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Operation Yellow Star / Black Thursday
Maurice Rajsfus, Mike Mitchell, Phyllis Aronoff
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Operation Yellow Star / Black Thursday
Maurice Rajsfus, Mike Mitchell, Phyllis Aronoff
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About This Book
Two books by Maurice Rajsfus, a French activist and former investigative journalist for Le Monde, who shares his research and personal recollections in order to shed new light on France's role in the Holocaust.
In the first volume, "Operation Yellow Star, " Rajsfus meticulously analyzes archival documents, demonstrating the extent of police collaboration with the Vichy regime and how it facilitated the persecution, deportation, and ultimately the death of hundreds of thousands of Jews. Examining long-unseen arrest records and transcripts, Rajsfus seeks to understand how and why many average French citizens resisted Nazi occupation while others were willingly complicit. In the second book, "Black Thursday, " Rajsfus recounts his own experiences of July 16, 1942, when he and his family were arrested as part of the Vel' d'Hiv roundup, the largest ever in France, of 13, 000 Jews. While most of those detained during the two-day sweep eventually died in Auschwitz, the author survived and has spent the rest of his life grappling with his country's betrayal. Together, the two volumes by Rajsfus offer a damning exposé of the bureaucracy of genocide, laying bare how cultural bias, political self-interest, and the influence of right-wing media led to the implementation of the Yellow Star as a segregationist device and determined France's culpability in the Holocaust.
Maurice Rajsfus is the author of thirty books and from 1994â2012 he created and circulated "Que fait la police, " a "Cop Watch" bulletin detailing human rights abuses. He lives in Paris with his wife, sons and grandchildren.
Phyllis Aronoff has won the Jewish Literary Award for translation and the translation prize from the Quebec Writers' Federation. She was president of the Literary Translators' Association of Canada and from 2007â2015 represented translators on the Public Lending Right Commission of Canada.
Mike Mitchell (b. 1941) is an award-winning translator of French and German who has been active as a translator for over thirty years. In 2012 the Austrian Ministry of Education, Art and Culture awarded him a lifetime achievement award as a translator of literary works. He lives in Scotland.
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Operation Yellow Star
By Maurice Rajsfus
TRANSLATED BY
Phyllis Aronoff and Mike Mitchell
COPYRIGHT DOPPELHOUSE PRESS 2017
1
Honor and Discipline
ON JUNE 10, 1940, while the French government is preparing to evacuate Paris for Tours before going on to Bordeaux, Minister of the Interior Georges Mandel meets with the prefect of police, Roger Langeron, and gives him his final instructions, as it is only a matter of days until the Germans will enter Paris. The ministerâs words are clear: âYou will fulfill the mission the government has given to you and that I communicated to you officially a few days ago at the Paris city council. Along with the prefect of the Seine, you will represent the government and France in dealing with the invader. Thereâs no point saying more to you about it. I know you will carry out this difficult task.â1 On the same day, June 10, Roger Langeron notes in his logbook: âI visited the Republican Guard and the Mobile Reserve. I announced to the colonels that whatever happens, the Republican Guard will not leave the capital. It will work closely, as always, with the Paris police. The mood of these men is marvelous.â2
On June 12, 1940, at the daily conference of General Hering, the military governor of Paris, important information arrives: by order of Franceâs commander-in-chief, General Weygand, Paris has been declared an open city. Roger Langeron telephones Georges Mandel in Tours and gives him his guarantee that there will be no incidents in the capital.3 He assures the fleeing government that he is in full control of the forces of law and order. That evening, after visiting the police stations of Paris, he hosts a thousand inspectors, police officers and section heads at the prefecture of police to present the governmentâs instructions, their spirit and their purpose. He explains: âThe police have received orders to remain here so as to ensure the protection of the population and the tranquility of Paris, and, especially in the early days, to prevent individual incidents that would surely entail reprisals by the enemy, as well as to prevent looting of houses that have been abandoned and entrusted to our care.â4
It is quite clear that this narrative, which was written after the war, was intended to show the integrity of the Paris police and its commitment to republican ideals. Prefect Langeron had a strong feeling that he was being listened to as attentively as in the past when he was setting up an effective service to maintain order during a high-risk demonstration. Having been prefect of police since March 1934, Langeron was well acquainted with the âGrande Maisonâ [Big House], as the police called the prefecture, and he stated, âThe whole police force of Paris was there, with its strong conscience and sense of duty. We bid each other farewell with cries of âVive la France!ââ5
On the eve of the arrival of German troops in Paris, Langeron notes that the administrators and officers in almost all the units of the prefecture have remained on duty, and he comments, âAt this time when everything in the country seems to be collapsing, the Maison, as the Paris police call it, is more solid than ever. Its twenty-five thousand chiefs and officers are standing together around their leader . . . . How I admire them for the strength they give the country and the solid, unshakable backbone they provide in every neighborhood, serving a disoriented population that will certainly regain its confidence through their devotion to duty.â6
Still on June 13, in the afternoon, a telephone conversation takes place between Langeron and Georges Mandel, the minister of the interior, in which Langeron reassures Mandel by confirming that there have not-been any incidents in Paris,7 and concludes, âThe police have never worked with such energy, cohesion and dynamism . . . . I am answering for my policing services as well as my intelligence services.â8
On Friday, June 14, at dawn, the German troops enter Paris. At 11 a.m., Langeron is summoned to the HĂŽtel de Crillon by a German general. Their dialogue is brief. Langeron is asked to guarantee that order will be maintained in Paris. He agreesâhe has no choice. In the afternoon, he confers with Charles Villey, prefect of the Seine: âWe are taking certain measures. We are not hiding from each other our concern at seeing that the invaders are feigning respect for the conventions . . . . I would add that the Gestapo will soon come, and it will change the atmosphere.â9 In the evening, disregarding the police hierarchy, the German authorities summon the director of intelligence services.
On June 15, a police officer from the Gestapo goes to the prefecture of police to demand the police files, which Langeron had sent to Montauban when war was declared. On June 16, Langeron is very bold, devising a plan about which nothing more is ever heard. âI am developing a plan that is more ambitious than the preceding ones: the organization of an intelligence service that will work among the Germans and keep me informed about what happens there. There will be no lack of volunteers for this risky task in my departments. But it involves recruiting and holding on to well-placed informants. That is no small thing. We will start tomorrow. Those around me are very excited about this plan.â10
On June 17, PĂ©tain broadcasts his famous message on the radio: âI say to you today that the fighting must stop.â Langeron immediately drafts an agenda for the various sections of the prefecture of police. The fact that the leader of the government of France has capitulated does not mean that public order will have to suffer. âIn these grave circumstances, the Paris police have remained on duty in accordance with their orders. They have maintained, and are continuing to maintain, order and security in the capital. Order must be absolute, security must be total: this is your first mission. Administrators and officers, whatever your rank, you must, like myself, devote everything you have to it. You must be constantly vigilant. You must be tireless. Your firm attitude and strict discipline must reinforce your moral authority . . . . I know your motto: Honor and Discipline. I am counting on you!â11 This is posted on the walls of the prefecture of police on June 18.
Also on June 18, 1940, Langeron states that he has heard General de Gaulleâs appeal broadcast from London. He is careful not to speak of it to those around him, but many visitors come to his office and voice their âunanimous opinions as to the greatness of that action.â12 The armistice agreement is signed on June 22 at the crossroads at Rethondes, and its provisions are made known to the prefecture of police that evening.
On June 23, 1940, Langeron protests the arrest of several police chiefs by the German authorities. He tells the representative of the head of the Gestapo, a man named Turner: âI have promised full assistance and protection to the twenty-five thousand men who are here in Paris to protect the population and to maintain a calm that is also in your interest. . . . If my chiefs had done something wrong, we could discuss it. But they have done nothing. . . . If you do not turn these innocent men over to me, I will no longer have the moral authority required to command the others. I cannot see myself remaining their leader after allowing seven of them to be deported!â That very evening, Langeron is replaced for the interim by the director of the municipal police, a decision he says is âinconsistent with the principles of the armistice agreement.â13
On July 9, the ambassador LĂ©on NoĂ«l, PĂ©tainâs delegate-general to the officials of the Occupation, asks Langeron to return to his role as prefect of police, but Langeron refuses. Summoned by Turner of the Gestapo, he is ordered to resume his position. On July 13, again summoned to Gestapo headquarters, he is reinstated as prefect of police, but he interprets his return as tangible proof that it is possible to resist the Germans even though âthey are quite prepared not to respect the clauses of the armistice agreement, never mind peopleâs rights.â14
On July 24, after a meeting with Boemelburg, who commands the Gestapo in Paris, Langeron notes: âThe Gestapo is now solidly established in Paris. I must endeavor to watch them closely.â15 On August 8, he writes: âThe prefecture of police has arrested four vendors of Le Pilori [a virulently anti-Semitic extreme-right weekly newspaper]16 who had gone into Jewish stores and overturned counters and displays.â17 He seems perturbed by these anti-Semitic acts, and on August 18, he writes in his logbook, âThe Gardes françaises [French Guards, an extreme-right-wing paramilitary group] continue to act as provocateurs. An attempt at an anti-Jewish demonstration in the street was aborted by the police.â18 On August 20, Langeron is summoned to the Palais Bourbon by a German military chief. He recounts:
He told us that the German authorities denied responsibility for the recent anti-Jewish demonstrations and had no objection to our cracking down on them. I pointed out that we had done so but that other German authorities had demanded the release of the individuals arrested by us. This is not a very good way to suppress demonstrations or to prevent their recurrence. He assured me it was the last time this would happen and that we would have a free hand from now on . . . . Does he want to leave the responsibility for anti-Jewish repression to other Germans? Does he want to give the Jews a false sense of concern?â19
Langeron seems quite decided not to allow these anti-Semitic actions to develop. At least, this is what comes out in his notes dated August 26, 1940. âAnti-Semitic flyers and pamphlets continue to be published and tracked by the police. The program of the new organization created by Pierre Clementi, the National-Collectivist Party: to remake France. The real program: to break windows of Jewish businesses, post flyers and create incidents. I have given orders to be firm and to prevent or suppress any form of demonstration.â20 He seems genuinely upset by all the agitation. On September 5, he notes: âYesterday and today, violent anti-Jewish demonstrations by the PPF [Parti Populaire Français: French Popular Party].â21 On September 23, he examines the anti-Semitic pamphlets and flyers found in Paris in the preceding few days.22
Things move quickly, and the active repression against the Jews becomes more clearly defined. On October 1, 1940, Langeron already knows what is to follow: âThe German ordinance against the Jews will be made public. Despite the denial of responsibility for the demonstrations of recent days, they were the necessary precursor. The order came from high up. Doriot was not su...