Police and Politics in Marseille, 1936-1945

327 Pages·2014·2.388 MB·English

by  Simon Kitson

Police and Politics in Marseille, 1936-1945
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2014 | doi 10.1163/9789004265233_001
History of Warfare
Editors
Kelly DeVries (Loyola University Maryland)
John France (University of Wales, Swansea)
Michael S. Neiberg (United States Army War College, Pennsylvania)
Frederick Schneid (High Point University, North Carolina)
VOLUME 95
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/hw
Police and Politics in Marseille,
1936-1945
By
Simon Kitson
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: Marseille, 1943: evacuation of the Vieux Port district (Référence Reportage: DAT 591 L12)
© ECPAD/France/GEBAUER.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kitson, Simon.
Police and politics in Marseille, 1936-1945 / by Simon Kitson.
pages cm. -- (History of warfare, ISSN 1385-7827 ; volume 95)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-24835-9 (hardback : acid-free paper) -- ISBN 978-90-04-26523-3 (e-book) 1. Police--France-
-Marseille--History--20th century. 2. Police--Political activity--France--Marseille--History--20th century.
3. World War, 1939-1945--France--Marseille. 4. Marseille (France)--Politics and government--20th century.
5. Marseille (France)--History, Military--20th century. 6. Marseille (France)--Social conditions--20th
century. 7. Front populaire--History. 8. France--Politics and government--1940-1945. I. Title.
HV8206.M36K58 2014
363.209449’1209044--dc23
2014002467
This publication has been typeset in the multilingual ‘Brill’ typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering
Latin, ipa, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities.
For more information, please see brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 1385-7827
isbn 978-90-04-24835-9 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-26523-3 (e-book)
Copyright 2014 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Nijhoff, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
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This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Contents
Acknowledgements vi
List of Abbreviations viii
A Note on Sources x
A Note on the Organisation of the Police xi
Introduction 1
1 From Hope to Disappointment: The Police Experience of the Popular
Front 8
2 Marseille Chicago 38
3 Enthusiasm and Co-operation: The Start of the Vichy
Government 65
4 Policing Opposition 86
5 Anti-Semitic Policing  107
6 The Hunt for German Spies 125
7 Ripping the Heart out of Marseille 149
8 Disaffection and Unreliability 163
9 The New Slave Trade 186
10 New Rivals 209
11 Towards Liberation 229
12 A New Police for a New France? 244
Conclusion 269
Bibliography 291
Index 303
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
I am extremely grateful to Brill publishers for bringing this book out. I have
really enjoyed working with them and I wish, in particular, to thank Julian
Deahl and Marcella Mulder.
The research for this book, spread over 22 years, would have been impossi-
ble without the financial support offered by the British Academy and subse-
quently by the Society for the Study of French History. My interest in this period
was first developed at the University of Ulster in Coleraine, where the atmo-
sphere and attention of tutors, especially Graham Gargett, was invaluable. The
exceptional enthusiasm and intelligence of Rod Kedward, my supervisor at
Sussex, kept alive this interest and helped stimulate it further. I have trouble
imagining a better thesis supervisor. I would also like to thank Professors Mark
Mazower and Clive Emsley for their helpful input as examiners of the thesis.
Like all Marseille scholars of my generation I acknowledge the unfloundering
support of Christian Oppetit in the contemporary section of the departmental
archives. Oppetit combined not only a sensitive concern to the needs of the
historian, but also an exhaustive knowledge both of the archives he directed
and of the history of Marseille. The active help and encouragement of local
historians was of particular importance to me. In this vein I would like to
thank: Jean-Marie Guillon, Robert Mencherini, Pierre Guiral (U), Madeleine
Baudoin(U), Grégoire Georges-Picot, Giovanni Paris, Paul Jankowski and
David Levy, all of whom were ready to discuss my project and to offer advice.
All of those whom I interviewed or who agreed to send me their written evi-
dence deserve a special thank you. On a national level, the Archives Nationales
made a large number of documents available to me and in this respect I should
particularly like to thank Chantal Bonazzi, Jean Favier and Anita Maison. The
Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale et Contemporaine let me use
their facilities as did the Centre de Documentation Juive et Contemporaine
where I am especially grateful to Vidar Jacobsen. The Institut d’Histoire du
Temps Présent allowed me access to their documentation centre, but also
actively encouraged my work and gave me the opportunity to present some of
my ideas in the framework of their seminars on Justice and Repression. I am
especially indebted to Denis Peschanski. With regard to the Police, the support
offered by the Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Sécurité Intérieure was invalu-
able. Their regular seminars gave me the opportunity to meet other Police
scholars whilst their documentation centre allowed me to peruse a vast litera-
ture on all matters relating to the Police. Particular thanks are due to Catherine
Gorgeon, Jean-Claude Salomon and in particular to Jean-Marc Berlière,
Acknowledgements vii
France’s leading specialist on questions related to Police history. The help of
the IHESI was particularly useful in gaining me access to the archives of the
Commissariat Central in Marseille where I was aided by M. Ottavi, Mme Paul
and Inspecteur d’Al Colletto. Mme Paul also helped me gain access to the
resource centre of the Ecole Nationale de la Police near Lyon, where I should
like to thank Mme Thomas. Thanks to René Levy I was able to make use of the
documentation centre at the Centre d’Etudes Sociologiques sur le Droit et les
Instances Pénales. Xavier Rousseaux kindly made a couple of articles known to
me. Marie-Thérèse Vogel introduced me to the rich archives of the Inspection
Générale des Services Administratifs. For useful discussions, suggestions or
contacts I am grateful to Jacques Delarue, Alain Pinel and Alain Guyomarch.
For offering me accommodation in Marseille and showing me the complex-
ities of the city, I am grateful to Françoise Petit, Jacqueline and Annie-Paule
Djian. For making the archives a fun place to work in, I owe a special mention
to Peter Jackson, Talbot Imlay, Martin Thomas, Becky Pulju and Shannon
FOGG. For many fruitful discussions I am indebted to Jackie Clarke, Joan Tum-
blety and Hanna Diamond. A particular note of gratitude must be offered to
Mark Ledbury who I spent 11 years at school with in Bath and 4 years at Univer-
sity with in Sussex. I was best man at his wedding and he was best man at mine.
His constant revelations about the relationship between Sedaine and David
were a source of amusement. Mark and Cathou Mehta are also long standing
sources of support.
I am sure that all academics will be acutely aware of the importance of hav-
ing good colleagues and good managers working together in a collegiate atmo-
sphere. Superb colleagues at the University of Birmingham and the University
of Auckland created a fertile environment in which to be an academic and in
these institutions I especially wish to thank Martyn Cornick, Christine Arkin-
stall and Jean-Jacques Courtine. Miles Taylor at the Institute of Historical
Research is owed a special thank you for allowing me to become a Senior
Research Fellow of that wonderful Institute. The world class ‘Queen Mary
team’ of Julian Jackson, Colin Jones, Jeremy Jennings and Miri Rubin were
invaluable sources of support during my time at the University of London’s
Institute in Paris (ULIP).
A final word of thanks is extended to my family: my mother Ann, my sisters
Debbie and Nicci and my brother Jem, my nieces Saskia and Freya, my neph-
ews William and Timmy, my cousin Jenny and of course my wife Kate for her
consistent support and help. I’d like to dedicate this book to my son, Laurie,
and daughter, Gaby.
Simon Kitson
Auckland, New Zealand, August 2013
viii List of Abbreviations used in this MLainstu oscf rAibpbtreviations
List of Abbreviations
AD Archives Départementales
AN Archives Nationales
BCRA Bureau Central de Renseignements et d’Action (Militaire)
BDIC Bibliothèque de Documentation Internationale Contemporaine
BDR Bouches-du-Rhône
CAA Commission Allemande d’Armistice
CAC Centre d’Archives Contemporaines, Fontainebleau
CD Commissaire Divisionnaire
CDJC Centre de Documentation Juive et Contemporaine
CDL Comité Départemental de Libération
CGQJ Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives
CGT Confédération Générale du Travail
CIE Centre d’Information et d’Etudes
CNI Commissariat National à l’Intérieur
CNR Conseil National de la Résistance
CRS Compagnie Républicaine de Sécurité
CT Contrôle Technique
DSA Direction des Services de l’Armistice
FFI Forces Françaises de l’Intérieur
FRS Force Républicaine de Sécurité
FTP (F) Francs-Tireurs et Partisans (Français)
GMR Groupe Mobile de Réserve
GP Groupes de Protection
GPRF Gouvernement Provisoire de la République Française
GRM Garde Républicaine Mobile
IGS (A) Inspection Générale des Services (Administratifs)
IHESI Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Sécurité Intérieure
IHTP Institut d’Histoire du Temps Présent
LVF Légion des Volontaires Français contre le Bolchévisme
MOI Main d’Oeuvre Immigrée
MP Milices Patriotiques
MUR Mouvements Unis de la Résistance
NAP Noyautage des Administrations Publiques
PCF Parti Communiste Français
PDG Président Directeur Général
PJ Police Judiciaire
List of Abbreviations ix
PN Police Nationale
PPF Parti Populaire Français
PQJ Police aux Questions Juives
PRE Police Régionale d’Etat
PRO Public Records Office, Kew Gardens, London
RG Renseignements Généraux
SAP Section des Affaires Politiques
SD Sicherheitsdienst (Security service)
SEC Section d’Enquête et Contrôle
SIPO Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police)
SN Sûreté Nationale
SOL Service d’Ordre Légionnaire
SSS Service des Sociétés Secrètes
ST Surveillance du Territoire
STO Service du Travail Obligatoire