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SIMON, M. (Only TWO copies in WorldCat, British Library and London School of Economics). Le Pillage de la France, Methodes Allemandes. **Nazi Control of France in 1943** (HOLOCAUST) SIMON, M. Le Pillage de la France, Methodes Allemandes. Societe des Editions de la France Libre, printed in London (1943). 8"x5", 20pp. Provenance: Pamphlet Collection, Library of Congress. Original wrappers. VG copy. [++] The "pillage" from the title as of 1942 refers mainly to the "mainmise economique" of France and what the "armistice spoilateur" meant for the economic and cultural condition of France. The author, M(arc) Simon (for whom I've found descriptions as being a jurist and "resistant") outlines the dire state of affairs at the end of 1942, writing on the control of the banks and business, freedom of movement, and descriptions of the Vichy government. I found the 4-page section "Les Lois Raciales prelude de la mainmise economique" ("economic control")" to be of particular interest, as the section is basically a history of the disappearance of the rights of Jews in France and so-called "Free France"/Vichy from 1940-1942, following the implementation of the various ordinances of the Nuremberg laws, which were "given legal force for all of France,introducing racism to the country by the Vichy government". [++] The first ordinance defines who and how someone is Jewish, and what constitutes a Jewish company or business. "The two ordinances [1st and 2nd], the provisions of which we have just summarized, therefore had as their object the census of French people of Israelite origin and of the businesses belonging to them. By retroactively canceling all measures taken by the legitimate owners to protect themselves against the expropriation of which they were clearly threatened since the entry of German troops into France, the German authorities froze Jewish property, which thus became easy prey. to seize for the Germans or the French whom the German administration judged useful to replace them, the Vichy government had taken, by the law of 3 October 1940, measures similar to the German provisions which introduced racial legislation for the so-called free zone." [++] And then a further tightening of the noose: "The third German ordinance on the matter is dated April 26, 1941. It gives a new definition of the quality of Jew which considerably widens the circle of persons to whom anti-Jewish legislation applies. It prohibits Jews from exercising a large number of commercial and industrial professions, and it forbids Aryan companies from employing, as senior employees, French citizens considered to be Jews within the meaning of German ordinances." [++] The fifth ordinance of 3 March 1941 initiates the liquidation of all Jewish property as prescribed by law ("de la liquidation des biens juifs, prescrite par la loi"). Simon writes: "the plan to enslave France and integrate the French economy into the general framework of German Europe. The elimination of Jews from French economic life is already a fait accompli. Their complete replacement by Germans or French, acting on behalf of Germany, can only be a matter of time." [++] The 6th ordinance (7 Feb 1942) puts a curfew in place for Jews between 8pm and 6am, while the 7th ordinance expands the definition of who is a "Jew". [++] The 8th ordinance, 29 May 1942, requires that the "Jewish star" be worn by all Jews, who had to report to police stations for their three stars and handing in a "textile card" in return. [++] By the end of the pamphlet we are presented with a thoroughly-controlled France, with Germans prescribing central controls for various businesses and banks, assuming insurance policies, and dictating the movement of cultural artifacts, with basically all artwork worth 100k francs to be reported and with bans on their sale. Of course the Jews by the end of 1942 have become thoroughly controlled, enumerated, and have lost nearly everything, and are now forced to wear the Star of David.
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