Pétain's Jewish children : French Jewish youth and the Vichy regime, 1940-1942 / Daniel Lee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lee, Daniel, 1983- author.

Series:

Oxford historical monographs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jewish youth--France--History--20th century.

Jewish youth.

World War, 1939-1945--Jews--France.

World War, 1939-1945.

History.

France--History--German occupation, 1940-1945.

France.

Jews.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 274 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2014.

Summary:

Pétain's Jewish Children examines the nature of the relationship between the Vichy regime and its Jewish citizens in the period 1940 to 1942. Previous studies lave generally viewed the experiences of French Jewry during the Second World War through the lenses of persecution, resistance, or rescue, an approach that reveals only a part of the story of their complicated relationship with Vichy. Pétain's Jewish Children, however, draws attention to the specific category of French Jewish youth, which like the rest of the Jewish population in France, responded in multiple ways to the sudden change of regime. By charting the instances in which the regimes desire for a reinvigorated youth look precedence over its racial laws, this volume reveals significant exceptions to Vichy's antisemitic policies. While Jews were marginalized from the civil service and liberal professions, the New: Order did not seek to exclude young French Jews from taking part in a series of youth projects that aimed to rebuild France in the aftermath of its defeat to Germany. For a time, ideas converged that rendered Jewish participation viable. The coming together of pre-war ideals among some tiling Jews-scouting, a return to the land, and the performing arts-with Vichy's emphasis on moral and cultural regeneration through manual labour and open-air living, forged a space for coexistence. While hindsight may point to the contrary, this volume shows that the mergence of the new regime did not signal the beginning of the end for French Jewry. In Vichy's first two years, while ambiguity reigned, possibilities to participate and coexist with the New Order endured and Jews were constantly presented with new avenues to probe and explore. After this point, Vichy's drastic Policy changes, coupled with the total occupation of France by German forces in November 1942, reduced the possibilities for cooperation almost to nothing. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 French Jewry on the Eve of Vichy 26

2 The Jewish Question and the National Revolution 44

3 Jewish Youth Movements' Responses to Vichy 70

4 The Interface between Vichy and Jewish Youth: Jews in State-Sponsored Youth Schemes 90

5 Lautrec: The EIF's Return to the Land Project 116

6 Lautrec, the Local Community, and the Administration 156

7 Jewish Participation in the Chantiers de la Jeunesse 185.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780198707158

0198707150

OCLC:

876285547