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EspañolGERMAN OCCUPATION OF FRANCE DURING WORLD WAR II
(Redirected from German occupation of France in World War II)
The 'German occupation of France in World War II' occurred during the period between May of 1940 to December of 1944. As a result of the disastrous defeat of the Allied armies in the Battle of France, the French Cabinet sought a cessation of hostilities. The armistice was signed 22 June 1940 at Compiègne. Under its terms the north and west of France were occupied by the German Army, the remaining one third of the country was ruled by a French government located at Vichy.
When the Allies invaded North Africa 8 November 1942, the Germans and Italians immediately occupied the remaining free part of France. The liberation of France began on 6 June 1944 with the Allied forces landing on D-Day and the Battle of Normandy and ended in December. Paris itself was liberated 25 August 1944.
The life of the French under the German Occupation was characterized by shortages and dictatorship. Like all of the occupied countries, France was the subject of an economic, human and financial plundering on behalf of the German Army. On the other hand, it was the only country where raids of Jews took place in territory not occupied by the Germans.
The life of the French during the German occupation was marked ,from the beginning, by endemic shortages. They are explained by several factors:
★ German requisitions and puchases were made with an occupation Deutschmark currency whose artificial rate of exchange against French Francs was highly unfavorable, in fact a form of organized plundering.
★ The utter disorganization of transport,except for the railway system which relied on French domestic coal supplies.
★ The extreme shortage of gasoline and diesel fuel. France had no indigenous oil production and all importations had stopped.
★ Labor shortages, particularly in the countryside,due to the large number of French prisonners of war held in Germany.
Supply problems quickly affected French stores which lacked everything. Faced with these difficulties in everyday life, the government answered by creating food charts and tickets which were to be exchanged for bread, meat, butter and cooking oil. The hunger prevailed, especially affecting youth in urban areas. The queues lengthened in front of shops with lovely brand new cloths in the window. In the absence of meat and other foods including potatoes, people ate unusual vegetables , such as Swedish turnip and Jerusalem artichoke. Products such as sugar were replaced by substitutes (saccharin). Coffee was replaced by toasted barley mixed with chicoree. Some people benefitted from the black market, where food was sold without tickets at very high prices. Counterfeit food tickets were also in circulation. Direct buying from farmers in the countryside and barter against cigarettes were also frequent practices during this period. Those activities were strictly forbidden however and thus carried out at the risk of confiscation and fines . Food shortages were most acute in the large cities. In the more remote country villages,however,clandestine slaughtering, vegetable gardens and the availability of milk products somehow permitted better survival.
Ersatz replaced many rare products; gas generators("gazogenes") on trucks and automobiles burned charcoal or wood pellets as a substitute to gasoline, chicory took the place of coffee, and wooden soles for shoes were used instead of leather. Soap was rare and made in households from fats and caustic soda.
During the German occupation, the Service of Obligatory Work (''Service du Travail Obligatoire or STO '') consisted of requisitions and transfer of hundreds of thousands of French workers to Germany against their will, for the German war effort (factories, agriculture, railroads, etc) in work camps.
During the night, inhabitants had to close their shutters or windows. Without Ausweis (authorization), it was forbidden to go out during the night. During the day, numerous regulations, censorship and propaganda made the occupation increasingly unbearable.
Schoolchildren were made to sing Maréchal, nous voilà ! The portrait of Marshal Pétain adorned the walls of classrooms, thus creating a personality cult. Propaganda was present in education to train the young people with the ideas of the new Vichy regime. However, there was no resumption in ideology as in other occupied countries, for example in Poland, where the teaching elite was liquidated. There were no imprisonments of teachers and the programs were not modified overall. In the private Catholic sector, many establishment chiefs hid Jewish children by providing education for them until the liberation.
★ Discrimination: In the occupied zone, from 1942 Jews were required to wear the yellow badge. On the Paris métro Jews had to take the last car.
★ Raids
Although the majority of the occupied French did not partake in active resistance, many resisted passively such as by listening to the banned BBC, or by hiding Resistance members. Others assisted in the escape of downed US or British airmen who eventually found their way back to England, through Spain. Beginning in 1942, many others refused to be drafted into the factories and farms of Germany by the "STO" organization. However they had to drop out of sight to avoid emprisonment and eventually deportation to Germany. For the most part, these "refractaires" eventually joined the Resistance. Armed underground groups in the field ( generally known at the time as the " Maquis" ) begun to organize in the more remote parts of France in late 1942 and 1943. They received weapons ( Bren guns,Sten submachineguns, Enfield rifles,US M1 carbines) ,plastic explosives, ammunitions and funds from thousands of parachute drops and solo landings at night by RAF Lysander airplanes. After the landing in Normandy in June 1944, the French armed resistance groups ( FFI, FTP and others) systematically sabotaged the railway lines , blew up bridges and generally provided intelligence that was communicated to London by radio within hours.
★ D-Day
★ Drancy internment camp
★ French Resistance
★ The Holocaust
★ Jews outside Europe under Nazi occupation
★ Military history of France during World War II
★ Office of Strategic Services
★ Operation Rot
★ Special Operations Executive
★ Vichy France
★ Italian-occupied France
Location of Vichy France (green). The red represents German occupied France (extended to Vichy France in November 1942), and the blue the Alsace-Lorraine region annexed by the Third Reich.
German signs of occupied Paris
The 'German occupation of France in World War II' occurred during the period between May of 1940 to December of 1944. As a result of the disastrous defeat of the Allied armies in the Battle of France, the French Cabinet sought a cessation of hostilities. The armistice was signed 22 June 1940 at Compiègne. Under its terms the north and west of France were occupied by the German Army, the remaining one third of the country was ruled by a French government located at Vichy.
When the Allies invaded North Africa 8 November 1942, the Germans and Italians immediately occupied the remaining free part of France. The liberation of France began on 6 June 1944 with the Allied forces landing on D-Day and the Battle of Normandy and ended in December. Paris itself was liberated 25 August 1944.
| Contents |
| Life of the French under German occupation |
| Shortages |
| Lack of food |
| Lack of raw materials |
| The dictatorship |
| The STO |
| Curfew |
| Education |
| Jews |
| The Resistance |
| See also |
Life of the French under German occupation
The life of the French under the German Occupation was characterized by shortages and dictatorship. Like all of the occupied countries, France was the subject of an economic, human and financial plundering on behalf of the German Army. On the other hand, it was the only country where raids of Jews took place in territory not occupied by the Germans.
Shortages
The life of the French during the German occupation was marked ,from the beginning, by endemic shortages. They are explained by several factors:
★ German requisitions and puchases were made with an occupation Deutschmark currency whose artificial rate of exchange against French Francs was highly unfavorable, in fact a form of organized plundering.
★ The utter disorganization of transport,except for the railway system which relied on French domestic coal supplies.
★ The extreme shortage of gasoline and diesel fuel. France had no indigenous oil production and all importations had stopped.
★ Labor shortages, particularly in the countryside,due to the large number of French prisonners of war held in Germany.
Lack of food
Supply problems quickly affected French stores which lacked everything. Faced with these difficulties in everyday life, the government answered by creating food charts and tickets which were to be exchanged for bread, meat, butter and cooking oil. The hunger prevailed, especially affecting youth in urban areas. The queues lengthened in front of shops with lovely brand new cloths in the window. In the absence of meat and other foods including potatoes, people ate unusual vegetables , such as Swedish turnip and Jerusalem artichoke. Products such as sugar were replaced by substitutes (saccharin). Coffee was replaced by toasted barley mixed with chicoree. Some people benefitted from the black market, where food was sold without tickets at very high prices. Counterfeit food tickets were also in circulation. Direct buying from farmers in the countryside and barter against cigarettes were also frequent practices during this period. Those activities were strictly forbidden however and thus carried out at the risk of confiscation and fines . Food shortages were most acute in the large cities. In the more remote country villages,however,clandestine slaughtering, vegetable gardens and the availability of milk products somehow permitted better survival.
Lack of raw materials
Ersatz replaced many rare products; gas generators("gazogenes") on trucks and automobiles burned charcoal or wood pellets as a substitute to gasoline, chicory took the place of coffee, and wooden soles for shoes were used instead of leather. Soap was rare and made in households from fats and caustic soda.
The dictatorship
The STO
During the German occupation, the Service of Obligatory Work (''Service du Travail Obligatoire or STO '') consisted of requisitions and transfer of hundreds of thousands of French workers to Germany against their will, for the German war effort (factories, agriculture, railroads, etc) in work camps.
Curfew
During the night, inhabitants had to close their shutters or windows. Without Ausweis (authorization), it was forbidden to go out during the night. During the day, numerous regulations, censorship and propaganda made the occupation increasingly unbearable.
Education
Schoolchildren were made to sing Maréchal, nous voilà ! The portrait of Marshal Pétain adorned the walls of classrooms, thus creating a personality cult. Propaganda was present in education to train the young people with the ideas of the new Vichy regime. However, there was no resumption in ideology as in other occupied countries, for example in Poland, where the teaching elite was liquidated. There were no imprisonments of teachers and the programs were not modified overall. In the private Catholic sector, many establishment chiefs hid Jewish children by providing education for them until the liberation.
Jews
Yellow badge made mandatory by the Vichy regime in France
★ Discrimination: In the occupied zone, from 1942 Jews were required to wear the yellow badge. On the Paris métro Jews had to take the last car.
★ Raids
The Resistance
Although the majority of the occupied French did not partake in active resistance, many resisted passively such as by listening to the banned BBC, or by hiding Resistance members. Others assisted in the escape of downed US or British airmen who eventually found their way back to England, through Spain. Beginning in 1942, many others refused to be drafted into the factories and farms of Germany by the "STO" organization. However they had to drop out of sight to avoid emprisonment and eventually deportation to Germany. For the most part, these "refractaires" eventually joined the Resistance. Armed underground groups in the field ( generally known at the time as the " Maquis" ) begun to organize in the more remote parts of France in late 1942 and 1943. They received weapons ( Bren guns,Sten submachineguns, Enfield rifles,US M1 carbines) ,plastic explosives, ammunitions and funds from thousands of parachute drops and solo landings at night by RAF Lysander airplanes. After the landing in Normandy in June 1944, the French armed resistance groups ( FFI, FTP and others) systematically sabotaged the railway lines , blew up bridges and generally provided intelligence that was communicated to London by radio within hours.
See also
★ D-Day
★ Drancy internment camp
★ French Resistance
★ The Holocaust
★ Jews outside Europe under Nazi occupation
★ Military history of France during World War II
★ Office of Strategic Services
★ Operation Rot
★ Special Operations Executive
★ Vichy France
★ Italian-occupied France
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