What happened in June 1940 when France was defeated by Nazi Germany? The two sides made a deal. They signed an armistice which has the following conditions:
# 1. France is divided into two separate units
# 2. The first unit covers 60 percent of France: the northern and the western part of the country, including the capital Paris
# 3. The first unit is occupied by Nazi Germany
# 4. The second unit covers 40 percent of France: the southeastern part of the country. The capital of this unit is Vichy
# 5. Vichy France is not occupied by Nazi Germany
# 6. Vichy France must have a good relationship with Nazi Germany
On paper (and in theory), Vichy France was an independent country. In reality, it was a puppet state which was created by Nazi Germany.
Why did Germany create a puppet state? What was the advantage?
When Vichy France was created, Germany did not have to occupy the entire territory of France.
Germany could focus on what was regarded as important: the north and the west.
Vichy France was allowed to maintain law and order in the remaining part of France: the southeastern zone.
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Vichy France was ruled by Philippe Pétain who was a famous French officer during World War One. The second-in-command was Pierre Laval who was a well-known French politician
The political position of Pétain and Laval was on the right wing of the political spectrum. As the leader of Vichy France, Pétain had an important question: how and why had France been defeated so quickly by Nazi Germany?
According to Pétain, the French army could not and should not be blamed. He blamed the politicians who were members of the French government during the final years before the German attack (1936–1940).
He claimed they had reduced public spending on the armed forces, while they had focused on civilian affairs. He had a list with several names. He regarded all the people on this list as traitors who should be punished.
The first person on his list was Leon Blum, who had been prime minister of France two times before the war began:
** The first time = from June 1936 to June 1937
** The second time = from March 1938 to April 1938
While Leon Blum was prime minister, the government had introduced two new rules and regulations:
# 1. The working week was reduced to 40 hours
# 2. Workers had the right two a paid holiday (vacation) of two weeks every year
Many workers had a positive view of Leon Blum, because he had introduced these rules and regulations, which benefited ordinary workers.
Pétain did not share this view. He had two reasons to hate
Leon Blum:
** He was Jewish
** He was a socialist
What happened to Leon Blum and the other people whose names were found on Pétain’s list of traitors? A good answer to this question is given in a French movie which premiered a few years ago:
Je ne rêve que de vous
English title:
An Irrepressible Woman
Here is some basic information about this historical drama which premiered in 2019:
** Director: Laurent Heynemann
** Writers: Laurent Heynemann and Luc Béraud
** Based on the book Je vous promets de revenir by Dominique Missika (2009)
** Language: French
** Run time: 103 minutes
This historical drama focuses on the lives of two persons:
** The former prime minister of France: Leon Blum (1872–1950). This role is played by the actor Hippolyte Girardot
** The woman who had adored him and loved him since she was a teenager: Jeanne (Janot) Adèle Levylier (1899–1982). This role is played by the actress Else Zylberstein
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Some enemies of Nazi Germany and Vichy France escaped by leaving the country. They went into exile. Leon Blum knew he might be arrested, because he was Jewish and because he was a socialist, but he did not leave the country
Janot had a chance to leave. Her former husband and her son were preparing to go to the US. She was offered a ticket but she did not take it. She said she had to stay with Leon Blum no matter what might happen to him. No matter what might happen to her.
They left without her.
She stayed.
The government of Vichy France did not allow Leon Blum to remain a free person for long: on 15 September 1940, he was arrested near Toulouse. He was interned in a castle named Château de Chazeron.
Janot found a hotel in the local area and booked a room. Then she rode a bicycle to the castle. But the guard did not allow her to visit Leon Blum, because she was not family: neither wife nor daughter.
She did not give up. She wrote a letter to him. The guard accepted the letter. Leon Blum was allowed to read the letter and to respond. For a while, Janot and Leon were only able to contact each other via letters. But she did not give up.
In mid-November 1940, he was moved to a new location: Château de Bourrassol. This time, Janot and a group of women who were related to other male prisoners entered a local government office and demanded permission to visit their husbands or fathers or close friends.
The government official was probably overwhelmed by the presence of so many angry women that he handed out a pass to every member of the group.
Finally, Janot and Leon were able to meet face to face.
Each time Leon was moved, Janot would follow in order to be near him and to offer moral support.
In October 1941, a new transfer was announced. In the following month, Leon arrived at a new location: Fort du Portalet, located in a mountain area: the French Pyrenees.
On 30 December 1941, he was moved back to Château de Bourrassol.
The Vichy government had a plan. Pétain wanted Leon Blum and other enemies to be tried in a court of law where they would be accused of treason.
Nazi Germany had approved the plan to hold a public trial, so the Vichy government was allowed to implement the plan.
The trial, which began in February 1942, was held in the town of Riom in central France. Leon and the other defendants were allowed to have a lawyer who could speak for them.
The defendants denied the charge and they put up a strong defence. The prosecution was not as talented as the defendants!
The prosecution focused on the fact that France had been defeated by Nazi Germany in 1940. The Germans did not like this focus. They wanted the prosecution to focus on the fact that France had declared war on Germany in 1939.
Before long, the Vichy government lost control of the trial. The situation was embarrassing for the government of Vichy France. In April, the trial was temporarily suspended. In May, it was officially closed without any verdict.
When the trial was suspended, Leon was moved back to Fort du Portalet.
In November 1942, Nazi Germany invaded Vichy France, because the war was not going well for them. From this moment, Vichy France ceased to exist, but in spite of this fact, it continued to exist. It was, however, more fiction than reality.
In March 1943, Leon Blum was handed over to Germany. He was interned in a hunting lodge located next to the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Leon Blum and some other persons were known as prominent prisoners who were held as hostages.
They were treated fairly well. They were not subjected to torture, but they could be killed whenever the Nazis felt they had a reason to do so.
Janot wanted to follow him, even though he had now been transferred to Germany. She appealed to Pierre Laval who had at that time succeeded Pétain as the leader of Vichy France. She said:
“Please give me permission to travel to Germany!”
She was a Jewish woman who wanted permission to enter Nazi Germany!
She was persistent. She got the permission. In April 1943, she travelled to Germany where she was united with Leon.
Once they were united, they had a new request: they wanted to be married! After a while, the German authorities granted this unusual request: on 08 October 1943, Janot and Leon Blum were married.
Two Jewish persons were married in a hunting lodge located next to a concentration camp. This unusual ceremony was arranged and approved by Nazi Germany!
The marriage certificate was highly significant. It allowed them to stay together when Leon was moved.
In April 1945, the war was almost over, but the Germans refused to surrender.
Leon and Janot and other prominent prisoners were moved again: first to Dachau and later to South Tyrol, where they were placed in Pragser Wildsee Hotel.
On 04 May they were liberated by American and other allied troops. The war was finally over.
Janot and Leon had survived the war. But Leon was still a politician. Before the war, he had been prime minister two times. After the war, he was prime minister for a third time, but only for a brief moment from December 1946 to January 1947.
Leon lived until 1950. Janot was a widow for more than thirty years. She died in 1982.
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REFERENCES
Gaby Levin,
“Her love for France’s first Jewish prime minister made her follow him to Buchenwald,”
Haaretz
24 September 2019
Rich Tenorio,
“The Jewish woman who entered a Nazi camp to marry the French prime minister,”
The Times of Israel
18 April 2020
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The French journalist and politician Georges Mandel (1885-1944) was a prominent prisoner in Vichy France.
In November 1942, he was handed over to the Germans, who placed him first in Oranienburg and later in the lodge next to Buchenwald concentration camp.
In March 1943, Leon Blum was moved to the same location. Janot joined them in April 1943. They shared the same location for more than one year.
In July 1944, Mandel was transported to Paris. He was killed in the Forest of Fontainebleau (60 km southeast of Paris) by the Milice, a paramilitary organisation created by Vichy France.
The murder of Mandel was an act of revenge (retaliation), because the French resistance movement had killed Philippe Henriot, who was the Vichy minister of propaganda and information.
The prominent prisoners were treated quite well. But they were hostages who could be killed whenever the government of Germany or Vichy France felt it was necessary.
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Château de Chazeron
During World War II, Leon Blum was interned in this castle with Georges Mandel, Edouard Daladier, Paul Reynaud and Maurice Gamelin
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Fort du Portalet located in a mountain area:
the French Pyrenees
During World War II, Leon Blum and other prominent prisoners were interned in this old castle
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