ARTICLE: Prisoners of Vichy, 1941-42

Having concentrated on those who tried to express their distaste for the Vichy Government’s persecution of its own citizens, today I wanted to give you a single voice from the other side. It comes from the Compiègne camp, which was located in Royallieu, south of the Paris. Jean Léon, a 41 year old agricultural engineer, was one of 750 French Jews and 300 foreign Jews arrested on December 12, 1941 and transferred here. Over the winter, he managed to pen several letters to his wife…

(A memorial on the site of the camp at Compiègne. P. Poschadel/Wikipedia)