René Bousquet
Encyclopedia
René Bousquet was a high-ranking French
civil servant, who served as secretary general to the Vichy regime
police from May 1942 to 31 December 1943.
, Tarn-et-Garonne
. After law studies, he began his career as chief of the cabinet of the for Tarn-et-Garonne
.
Bousquet became protégé of Maurice Sarraut, radical-socialist senator and CEO of , and Albert Sarraut
, deputy, president of the Council and minister. Bousquet was detached to the Presidency of the Council to head the technical service in charge of the reconstruction of the flooded Southern regions.
At the age of 22, he became second of the cabinet of Pierre Cathala, then minister of the Interior. In 1933, Bousquet was promoted to sous-préfet, and in 1935, he became general director of the cabinet of the minister for Agriculture. The next year, Bousquet was given responsibility for the central files of the National Security.
In April 1938, Albert Sarraut, then Minister of the Interior, named him for Vitry-le-François
(Marne
). In 1939, he became general secretary of the for Châlons-sur-Marne
(now Châlons-en-Champagne), and eventually in 1940 after the Armistice
.
In 1942, Admiral François Darlan
offered him the Ministry of Agriculture, which Bousquet twice refused.
In April 1942, as the Schutzstaffel
(SS) was taking over security duties in the Occupied Zone, Pierre Laval
made Bousquet general secretary to Police. Bousquet was given permanent credentials to sign on behalf of the head of State. He managed to obtain some autonomy for the French police from German authority by promising to collaborate with them, and also concentrated all police services under his personal authority, suppressing the branch led by Darquier de Pellepoix, general commissary to Jewish affairs.
Bousquet also negotiated the "Oberg-Bousquet" deal, presented to all regional on 8 August 1942, which recognised the autonomy of the French police and Gendarmerie
, which were not compelled to provide hostages, nor to hand their prisoners to German services. Nevertheless, three days later, 70 hostages were required from the French in retaliation for the murder of 8 Germans.
On 2 July 1942, Bousquet and Carl Oberg
prepared the arrests known as the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup (Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv). Bousquet personally canceled orders protecting some categories of people from arrests, notably children under 18 and parents with children under 5. After the arrests, some bishops and cardinals protested; Bousquet threatened to cancel tax privileges for Catholic schools.
Under the pretext of not separating families, Pierre Laval
ordered that Jewish children under 16 be included in deportation convoys, thus surpassing the requirements of the Nazis. Bousquet obliged, personally settling that children under 2 years also be included. Children were actually deported separately from their parents.
In January 1943, he organised with Carl Oberg a massive raid in Marseille
, known as the Battle of Marseille
. During this repressive operation, the French police assisted the German police, in particular in the expulsion of 30,000 people from the Old Port
, and the subsequent destruction of this neighborhood, considered as too dangerous and as a "terrorist nest" by the German police, because of its winding, small streets. Bousquet eagerly offered his services during this operation. The French police controlled the identity
of 40,000 people, and the operation succeeded in sending 2,000 Marseillese to the extermination camps. The operation also encompassed the expulsion of an entire neighborhood (30,000 persons) before its destruction. For this occasion, SS
Carl Oberg
, in charge of the German Police in France, made the trip from Paris, and transmitted to Bousquet orders directly received from Himmler. It is a notable case of the French police's willing collaboration with the Nazis.
In April 1943, Bousquet met with Heinrich Himmler
. Himmler declared himself "impressed by Bousquet's personality", mentioning him as a "precious collaborator in the framework of police collaboration".
At the time, Bousquet was also councillor to Pierre Laval, along with Jean Jardin and Charles Rochat
. With the BBC
calling for his murder, Bousquet was also an object of hatred for his fellow collaborationists, such as Joseph Barthélémy
, minister of Justice.
On 2 December 1943, Maurice Sarraut was murdered by men of the Milice
. Bousquet was set on arresting the culprit, and the Milice required from Berlin that Bousquet be fired. After ordering releases and destroying his archives, Bousquet resigned, on the 31 December 1943. He was replaced by Joseph Darnand
, leader of the Milice.
Put in the reserve of the civil corps, Bousquet was under surveillance for a dozen days in a villa in Neuilly, before driving to Germany in a car lent by Carl Oberg.
In the first semester of 1944, Bousquet was a favourite target of the collaborationist press, which accused him of having served in the Vichy administration only to favour the Resistance. His cabinet director, Jean-Paul Martin, also helped some Resistance networks.
Bousquet was in Bavaria at the time of the German surrender. He came back to France as a "deported person". He met with Laval to help him prepare for his trial. Bousquet spent part of the night before Laval's execution with him.
, a measure immediately lifted for "having actively and sustainably participated in the resistance against the occupier".
Bousquet was kept out of the French public service, but made a career at the Banque de l'Indochine
and in newspapers. He met with François Mitterrand
through Jean-Paul Martin, who was Bousquet's former collaborator in Vichy, and at the time Mitterrand's director of cabinet as he was minister of over-sea territories.
In 1957, the Conseil d'État gave back his Legion of Honour, and he was amnestied on the 17 January 1958. Bousquet then started a political career for the legislative elections of 1958, as a candidate for the 3rd circonscription of the Marne
. He was supported by the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
; his second was Hector Bouilly, a radical-socialist general councillor. Bousquet obtained less than 10% of the votes.
After Jean Baylet's death in 1959, Bousquet sat on the Council of administration of . He supported the candidacy of Mitterrand in 1965, and observed an anti-Gaullist editorial line. Bousquet quit in 1971, and the tone of the newspaper softened.
In 1974, Bousquet supported and helped finance Mitterrand against Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
. Bousquet was familiar to numerous other personalities such as Antoine Pinay
, Bernard Cornut-Gentille
, Jacques Chaban-Delmas
, Edgar Faure
and Maurice Faure
. He sat at the administration council of UTA.
After Mitterrand's election in the presidential election in 1981
, Bousquet met him at the Élysée to "talk about politics". In 1986, as accusations cast on Bousquet started to grow more credible, he and Mitterrand stopped seeing each other. The parquet général de Paris
closed the case by sending it to a Court which was no longer in existence. This stirred outrage; attorneys for the International Federation of Human Rights
declared that there was a "political decision at the highest levels to prevent the Bousquet affair from developing". In 1989, Serge Klarsfeld and his Association des fils et filles des déportés juifs de France ("Sons and daughters of Jewish Deportees from France
"), the and the filled a complaint against Bousquet for Crime against humanity
, for the deportation of 194 children. In 1991, Bousquet was indicted by Justice.
On 8 June 1993, a few weeks before his trial was to begin, Bousquet was shot dead by Christian Didier.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
civil servant, who served as secretary general to the Vichy regime
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
police from May 1942 to 31 December 1943.
Biography
René Bousquet was born to a radical socialist notary in MontaubanMontauban
Montauban is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse....
, Tarn-et-Garonne
Tarn-et-Garonne
Tarn-et-Garonne is a French department in the southwest of France. It is traversed by the Rivers Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its name.-History:...
. After law studies, he began his career as chief of the cabinet of the for Tarn-et-Garonne
Tarn-et-Garonne
Tarn-et-Garonne is a French department in the southwest of France. It is traversed by the Rivers Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its name.-History:...
.
Youth
In March 1930, he and a friend became national heroes as they personally saved dozens of people from drowning during floods in the southwest of France. He was awarded the Legion of Honour and the ("Golden medal for fine deeds").Bousquet became protégé of Maurice Sarraut, radical-socialist senator and CEO of , and Albert Sarraut
Albert Sarraut
Albert-Pierre Sarraut was a French Radical politician, twice Prime Minister during the Third Republic.Sarraut was born in Bordeaux, Gironde, France.He was Governor-General of French Indochina, from 1912 to 1919....
, deputy, president of the Council and minister. Bousquet was detached to the Presidency of the Council to head the technical service in charge of the reconstruction of the flooded Southern regions.
At the age of 22, he became second of the cabinet of Pierre Cathala, then minister of the Interior. In 1933, Bousquet was promoted to sous-préfet, and in 1935, he became general director of the cabinet of the minister for Agriculture. The next year, Bousquet was given responsibility for the central files of the National Security.
In April 1938, Albert Sarraut, then Minister of the Interior, named him for Vitry-le-François
Vitry-le-François
Vitry-le-François is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. It is located on the Marne River and is the western terminus of the Marne-Rhine Canal.- History :In 1142, Louis VII invaded Champagne and seized Vitry-le-François...
(Marne
Marne
Marne is a department in north-eastern France named after the river Marne which flows through the department. The prefecture of Marne is Châlons-en-Champagne...
). In 1939, he became general secretary of the for Châlons-sur-Marne
Châlons-en-Champagne
Châlons-en-Champagne is a city in France. It is the capital of both the department of Marne and the region of Champagne-Ardenne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims....
(now Châlons-en-Champagne), and eventually in 1940 after the Armistice
Armistice with France (Second Compiègne)
The Second Armistice at Compiègne was signed at 18:50 on 22 June 1940 near Compiègne, in the department of Oise, between Nazi Germany and France...
.
Second World War
In September 1941, he became the youngest regional . Because of his radical-socialist background, he was subject to the hatred of . He managed to help war prisoners to escape, and to lighten the economic toll of Germany on the Marne department.In 1942, Admiral François Darlan
François Darlan
Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan was a French naval officer. His great-grandfather was killed at the Battle of Trafalgar...
offered him the Ministry of Agriculture, which Bousquet twice refused.
In April 1942, as the Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
(SS) was taking over security duties in the Occupied Zone, Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval was a French politician. He was four times President of the council of ministers of the Third Republic, twice consecutively. Following France's Armistice with Germany in 1940, he served twice in the Vichy Regime as head of government, signing orders permitting the deportation of...
made Bousquet general secretary to Police. Bousquet was given permanent credentials to sign on behalf of the head of State. He managed to obtain some autonomy for the French police from German authority by promising to collaborate with them, and also concentrated all police services under his personal authority, suppressing the branch led by Darquier de Pellepoix, general commissary to Jewish affairs.
Bousquet also negotiated the "Oberg-Bousquet" deal, presented to all regional on 8 August 1942, which recognised the autonomy of the French police and Gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
, which were not compelled to provide hostages, nor to hand their prisoners to German services. Nevertheless, three days later, 70 hostages were required from the French in retaliation for the murder of 8 Germans.
On 2 July 1942, Bousquet and Carl Oberg
Carl Oberg
General Carl Albrecht Oberg was the Higher SS and Police Leader of France during the Second World War.- Nazi career :...
prepared the arrests known as the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup (Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv). Bousquet personally canceled orders protecting some categories of people from arrests, notably children under 18 and parents with children under 5. After the arrests, some bishops and cardinals protested; Bousquet threatened to cancel tax privileges for Catholic schools.
Under the pretext of not separating families, Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval
Pierre Laval was a French politician. He was four times President of the council of ministers of the Third Republic, twice consecutively. Following France's Armistice with Germany in 1940, he served twice in the Vichy Regime as head of government, signing orders permitting the deportation of...
ordered that Jewish children under 16 be included in deportation convoys, thus surpassing the requirements of the Nazis. Bousquet obliged, personally settling that children under 2 years also be included. Children were actually deported separately from their parents.
In January 1943, he organised with Carl Oberg a massive raid in Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
, known as the Battle of Marseille
Battle of Marseille
The Marseille´s Roundup took place in the Old Port of Marseille, under the Vichy regime, on 22, 23 and 24 January 1943. Assisted by the French police, which was directed by René Bousquet, the Nazis organized a raid to arrest Jewish people...
. During this repressive operation, the French police assisted the German police, in particular in the expulsion of 30,000 people from the Old Port
Old Port of Marseille
The Old Port of Marseille is located at the end of the Canebière. It has been the natural harbour of Marseille since antiquity.- History :...
, and the subsequent destruction of this neighborhood, considered as too dangerous and as a "terrorist nest" by the German police, because of its winding, small streets. Bousquet eagerly offered his services during this operation. The French police controlled the identity
Identity document
An identity document is any document which may be used to verify aspects of a person's personal identity. If issued in the form of a small, mostly standard-sized card, it is usually called an identity card...
of 40,000 people, and the operation succeeded in sending 2,000 Marseillese to the extermination camps. The operation also encompassed the expulsion of an entire neighborhood (30,000 persons) before its destruction. For this occasion, SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
Carl Oberg
Carl Oberg
General Carl Albrecht Oberg was the Higher SS and Police Leader of France during the Second World War.- Nazi career :...
, in charge of the German Police in France, made the trip from Paris, and transmitted to Bousquet orders directly received from Himmler. It is a notable case of the French police's willing collaboration with the Nazis.
In April 1943, Bousquet met with Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
. Himmler declared himself "impressed by Bousquet's personality", mentioning him as a "precious collaborator in the framework of police collaboration".
At the time, Bousquet was also councillor to Pierre Laval, along with Jean Jardin and Charles Rochat
Charles Rochat
Charles Rochat was a Swiss Olympic fencer. He competed in the team foil event at the 1924 Summer Olympics.-References:...
. With the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
calling for his murder, Bousquet was also an object of hatred for his fellow collaborationists, such as Joseph Barthélémy
Joseph Barthélemy
Joseph Barthélemy was a French jurist, politician and journalist. Initially a critic of Nazi Germany, he would go on to serve as a minister in the collaborationist Vichy regime.-Early years:...
, minister of Justice.
On 2 December 1943, Maurice Sarraut was murdered by men of the Milice
Milice
The Milice française , generally called simply Milice, was a paramilitary force created on January 30, 1943 by the Vichy Regime, with German aid, to help fight the French Resistance. The Milice's formal leader was Prime Minister Pierre Laval, though its chief of operations, and actual leader, was...
. Bousquet was set on arresting the culprit, and the Milice required from Berlin that Bousquet be fired. After ordering releases and destroying his archives, Bousquet resigned, on the 31 December 1943. He was replaced by Joseph Darnand
Joseph Darnand
Joseph Darnand was a French soldier and later a leader of the Vichy French collaborators with Nazi Germany....
, leader of the Milice.
Put in the reserve of the civil corps, Bousquet was under surveillance for a dozen days in a villa in Neuilly, before driving to Germany in a car lent by Carl Oberg.
In the first semester of 1944, Bousquet was a favourite target of the collaborationist press, which accused him of having served in the Vichy administration only to favour the Resistance. His cabinet director, Jean-Paul Martin, also helped some Resistance networks.
Bousquet was in Bavaria at the time of the German surrender. He came back to France as a "deported person". He met with Laval to help him prepare for his trial. Bousquet spent part of the night before Laval's execution with him.
Post-war
René Bousquet was the last Frenchman to be tried by the , in 1949. He was acquitted of the accusation of "compromising the interests of the National defence", but automatically declared guilty of for his involvement in the government of Vichy. He was given the minimal sentence of five years of dégradation nationaleDégradation nationale
The dégradation nationale was a sentence introduced in France after the Liberation. It was applied during the épuration légale which followed the fall of the Vichy regime....
, a measure immediately lifted for "having actively and sustainably participated in the resistance against the occupier".
Bousquet was kept out of the French public service, but made a career at the Banque de l'Indochine
Banque de l'Indochine
The Banque de l'Indochine was a minting and banknote-issuing bank established in Paris on January 21, 1875, for the territories of France in Asia.-History:...
and in newspapers. He met with François Mitterrand
François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
through Jean-Paul Martin, who was Bousquet's former collaborator in Vichy, and at the time Mitterrand's director of cabinet as he was minister of over-sea territories.
In 1957, the Conseil d'État gave back his Legion of Honour, and he was amnestied on the 17 January 1958. Bousquet then started a political career for the legislative elections of 1958, as a candidate for the 3rd circonscription of the Marne
Marne
Marne is a department in north-eastern France named after the river Marne which flows through the department. The prefecture of Marne is Châlons-en-Champagne...
. He was supported by the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance
The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance was a French political party found at the Liberation and in activity during the Fourth Republic...
; his second was Hector Bouilly, a radical-socialist general councillor. Bousquet obtained less than 10% of the votes.
After Jean Baylet's death in 1959, Bousquet sat on the Council of administration of . He supported the candidacy of Mitterrand in 1965, and observed an anti-Gaullist editorial line. Bousquet quit in 1971, and the tone of the newspaper softened.
In 1974, Bousquet supported and helped finance Mitterrand against Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing is a French centre-right politician who was President of the French Republic from 1974 until 1981...
. Bousquet was familiar to numerous other personalities such as Antoine Pinay
Antoine Pinay
Antoine Pinay |Rhône]], France – 13 December 1994) was a French conservative politician. He served as Prime Minister of France in 1952.-Life:As a young man, Pinay fought in World War I and injured his arm so that it was paralyzed for the rest of his life....
, Bernard Cornut-Gentille
Bernard Cornut-Gentille
Bernard Cornut-Gentille was a French administrator and politician.Born in Brest, Finistère, Cornut-Gentille studied at the École Libre des Sciences Politiques. In 1943 he was appointed as the Subprefect of Reims, but resigned to assist the Free French delegate Émile Bollaert...
, Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Jacques Chaban-Delmas
Jacques Chaban-Delmas was a French Gaullist politician. He served as Prime Minister under Georges Pompidou from 1969 to 1972. In addition, for almost half a century, he was Mayor of Bordeaux and a deputy for the Gironde département....
, Edgar Faure
Edgar Faure
Edgar Faure was a French politician, essayist, historian, and memoirist.-Career:Faure was born in Béziers, Languedoc-Roussillon. He trained as a lawyer in Paris and became a member of the Bar at 27, the youngest lawyer in France to do so at the time...
and Maurice Faure
Maurice Faure
Maurice Faure at Azerat, Dordogne is a former member of the French Resistance and a former minister in several French governments....
. He sat at the administration council of UTA.
After Mitterrand's election in the presidential election in 1981
French presidential election, 1981
The French presidential election of 1981 took place on 10 May 1981, giving the presidency of France to François Mitterrand, the first Socialist president of the Fifth Republic....
, Bousquet met him at the Élysée to "talk about politics". In 1986, as accusations cast on Bousquet started to grow more credible, he and Mitterrand stopped seeing each other. The parquet général de Paris
Parquet (legal)
The parquet is the office of the prosecution, in some countries, responsible for presenting legal cases at criminal trials against individuals or parties suspected of breaking the law....
closed the case by sending it to a Court which was no longer in existence. This stirred outrage; attorneys for the International Federation of Human Rights
International Federation of Human Rights
The International Federation for Human Rights is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the oldest international human rights organisation worldwide and today brings together 164 member organisations in over 100 countries.FIDH is nonpartisan,...
declared that there was a "political decision at the highest levels to prevent the Bousquet affair from developing". In 1989, Serge Klarsfeld and his Association des fils et filles des déportés juifs de France ("Sons and daughters of Jewish Deportees from France
Sons and daughters of Jewish Deportees from France
The Sons and Daughters of Jewish Deportees from France is a French association of descendants of Jews deported from France during the Nazi German occupation of France , during the Holocaust. Serge Klarsfeld founded this organization in 1979 and continues to serve as president of the organization...
"), the and the filled a complaint against Bousquet for Crime against humanity
Crime against humanity
Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings...
, for the deportation of 194 children. In 1991, Bousquet was indicted by Justice.
On 8 June 1993, a few weeks before his trial was to begin, Bousquet was shot dead by Christian Didier.
External links
) http://www.jeanbonhomme.com/archives/depeche.pdf- Dissertation by Simon KitsonSimon KitsonSimon Kitson is a British historian.Kitson did his undergraduate studies at the University of Ulster and his post-graduate studies at the University of Sussex, under the supervision of Professor Roderick Kedward...
, http://www.port.ac.uk/special/france1815to2003/chapter8/interviews/filetodownload,27676,en.pdf http://www.port.ac.uk/special/france1815to2003/chapter8/interviews/filetodownload,27676,en.pdf