View source for Marseille roundup

{{Short description|Systematic deportation of the Jews of Marseille in the Old Port}}
{{Infobox event
| image                    = Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-027-1477-07, Marseille, Gare d'Arenc. Deportation von Juden.jpg
| caption                  = Deportation of Jews during the Marseille roundup
| native_name              = Rafle de Marseille
| native_name_lang         = fr
| english_name             = Marseille roundup
| date                     = {{start and end dates|1943|01|22|1943|01|24}}
| venue                    =  
| location                 = [[Marseille]]
| coordinates              =  
| also_known_as            = Rafle du Vieux-Port 
| type                     = 
| theme                    = 
| cause                    = 
| motive                   = 
| target                   = 
| first_reporter           = 
| budget                   = 
| patron                   = <!-- or |patrons= -->
| organisers               ={{flag|Nazi Germany}}<br>{{flag|Vichy France}}
| filmed_by                = 
| participants             = 30,000 German Gestapo and French Police<ref name="Oppetit Vidal-Naquet 1993 p.126 ">{{cite book | last1=Oppetit | first1=C. | last2=Vidal-Naquet | first2=P. | title=Marseille, Vichy et les Nazis: le temps des rafles, la déportation des juifs | publisher=Amicale des déportés d'Auschwitz et des camps de Haute-Silésie, Section Marseille-Provence | year=1993 | isbn=978-2-85744-657-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ABHAAAAMAAJ | language=fr}}</ref>
| outcome                  = 1,642 [[Extermination camp|deported]]<ref name="France Culture 2019">{{cite web | title=Rafle à Marseille en 1943 : un quartier rasé et le petit rire de Pétain | website=France Culture | date=2019-06-06 | url=https://www.franceculture.fr/histoire/rafle-a-marseille-en-1943-les-images-de-la-verrue-de-leurope-et-le-petit-rire-de-petain | language=fr}}</ref>
| casualties1              = 
| casualties2              = 
| casualties3              = 
| reported deaths          = 
| reported injuries        = 
| reported missing         = 
| reported property damage = 
| burial                   = 
| displaced                =20,000<ref name="France Culture 2019"/>
| inquiries                = 
| inquest                  = 
| coroner                  = 
| arrests                  =6,000<ref name="Oppetit Vidal-Naquet 1993 p.126 ">{{cite book | last1=Oppetit | first1=C. | last2=Vidal-Naquet | first2=P. | title=Marseille, Vichy et les Nazis: le temps des rafles, la déportation des juifs | publisher=Amicale des déportés d'Auschwitz et des camps de Haute-Silésie, Section Marseille-Provence | year=1993 | isbn=978-2-85744-657-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-ABHAAAAMAAJ | language=fr}}</ref>
| suspects                 = 
| accused                  = 
| convicted                = 
| charges                  = 
| trial                    = 
| verdict                  = 
| convictions              = 
| sentence                 = 
}}
{{The Holocaust sidebar}}
The '''Marseille roundup''' was the systematic deportation of the [[History of the Jews in France|Jews]] of [[Marseille]] in the [[Old Port of Marseille|Old Port]] between 22 and 24 January 1943 under the [[Vichy France|Vichy regime]] during the [[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|German occupation of France]]. Assisted by the [[French police]], directed by [[René Bousquet]], the Germans organized a raid to arrest Jews. The police checked the [[identity document]]s of 40,000 people, and the operation sent 2,000 Jews first to [[Fréjus]], then to the [[camp of Royallieu]] near [[Compiègne]], in the Northern Zone of France, and then to [[Drancy internment camp]], last stop before the [[extermination camp]]s. The operation also encompassed the expulsion of an entire neighborhood (30,000 persons) before its destruction. Located in the Old Port, the 1st arrondissement was considered by the Germans to be a "terrorist nest" because of its small, windy and curvy streets<ref>[[Maurice Rajsfus]], 1995, ''[http://editionsdudetour.com/index.php/les-livres/la-police-de-vichy/ La Police de Vichy. Les forces de l’ordre françaises au service de la Gestapo]'', Le Cherche Midi éditeur, 1995, p.210</ref> For this occasion, [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] leader [[Carl Oberg]], in charge of the German Police in France, made the trip from Paris, and transmitted to Bousquet orders directly received from [[Himmler]]. It is a notable case of the French police's collaboration with the German occupiers.

== Destruction of the Old Port ==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-027-1480-24, Marseille, Zerstörung des alten Hafenviertels.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The old neighborhood, seen from the [[Marseille Transporter Bridge|transporter bridge]]]]
The operation was intended to [[urban planning|reshape the area]] of the [[Old Port of Marseille|Old Port]], a popular neighborhood whose small, curved and winding streets were considered dangerous by the German authorities. The Germans used for this an [[urbanism|urbanist]] plan prepared by French architects who supported the Vichy [[ideology]] of "National Revolution" (''{{lang|fr|[[Révolution nationale]]}}''). They decided to almost totally destroy the 1st arrondissement of Marseille. At Himmler's order, the population was evacuated to [[concentration camps in France|concentration camps in the Northern Zone]], in particular at [[Compiègne]]. The Old Port itself was searched house by house by the German police, assisted by their French counterparts, and then the buildings were [[dynamite]]d.

Mandated by the head of Vichy, [[Pierre Laval]], Bousquet demanded on 14 January 1943 that the operation be postponed for a week to improve its organization and have police reinforcements. Furthermore, while the Germans were focussed on the 1st arrondissement of Marseille, Bousquet spontaneously extended the operation to the entire city. According to historian [[Maurice Rajsfus]], he also requested complete freedom of action for the French police, which he obtained from SS [[Karl Oberg]].

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-027-1477-29, Marseille, Hafenviertel. Deportation von Juden.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Evacuation of the Old Port]]
According to historian [[Jacques Delarue]], a witness to the operation, 200 police inspectors from Paris and elsewhere, 15 ''compagnies'' of the ''[[Groupe mobile de réserve]]'' (GMR) and squads of French ''[[Gendarmerie|gendarmes]]'' and  mobile guards (''gardes mobiles)'' were brought to Marseille for the operation. In total, "approximatively 12,000 police men found themselves concentrated in Marseille.".<ref>[[Jacques Delarue]], ''Trafics et Crimes sous l’Occupation'' (Livre de Poche, 1971), p.262</ref> On 22 January 1943 the Old Port was completely locked down. The city, except for the more wealthy, residential, neighborhoods, was searched house-by-house over a period of 36 hours. "In total, following tens of thousands of checks, nearly 2,000 Marseillese... found themselves in the death trains." wrote historian Maurice Rajsfus. In addition, 1,500 buildings were destroyed.{{cn|date=March 2023}}

The [[Prefectures of France|Prefecture]] of the [[Bouches-du-Rhône]] published a public statement on 24 January 1943:

<blockquote>For reasons of military order and to guarantee the safety of the population, the German military authorities officially ordered the French administration to proceed immediately with the evacuation of the north end of the Old Port. For its part, the French administration decided on the grounds of internal security to carry out a vast police operation to rid Marseille of certain elements whose activities posed great risks to the population. The French administration worked hard to avoid mixing up the two operations. Sizeable police forces carried out numerous searches in the quarter. Entire neighbourhoods were surrounded and identity checks were made. More than 6,000 individuals were arrested and 40,000 identities were checked.<ref>Quoted by Maurice Rajsfus, 1995, p.213. French: ''{{lang|fr|« Pour des raisons d’ordre militaire et afin de garantir la sécurité de la population, les autorités militaires allemandes ont notifié à l’administration française l’ordre de procéder immédiatement à l’évacuation du quartier Nord du Vieux-Port. Pour des motifs de sécurité intérieure, l’administration française avait, de son côté, décidé d’effectuer une vaste opération de police afin de débarrasser Marseille de certains éléments dont l’activité faisait peser de grands risques sur la population. L’administration française s’est efforcée d’éviter que puissent être confondues ces deux opérations. De très importantes forces de police ont procédé dans la ville à de multiples perquisitions. Des quartiers entiers ont été cernés et des vérifications d’identité ont été faites. Plus de 6 000 individus ont été arrêtés et 40 000 identités ont été vérifiées.»}}''</ref></blockquote>

The newspaper ''[[Le Petit Marseillais]]'' of 30 January 1943 added:
<blockquote>Let us be clear that the operations for the evacuation of the Old Port were carried out exclusively by the French police and that they did not give rise to any incidents.<ref>French: ''{{lang|fr|« Précisions que les opérations d’évacuation du quartier Nord du Vieux-Port ont été effectuées exclusivement par la police française et qu’elles n’ont donné lieu à aucun incident.»}}'' (ibid.)</ref> </blockquote>

German newspapers also acclaimed the operation. [[Walther Kiaulehn]] wrote in the German military newspaper ''[[Signal (magazine)|Signal]]'':
<blockquote>In the future, when we shall write the history of Marseilles, we will underline this remarkable feat that by having evacuated the old patrician neighborhood, which had been dishonored by the 20th century, the operation had used French and German policemen, as a group of engineers and physicians.<ref>Quoted by Rajsfus, p.213. French: ''{{lang|fr|"Dans l'avenir, lorsque l'on écrira l'histoire de Marseille, on soulignera ce fait remarquable qu'en faisant évacuer le vieux quartier patricien déshonoré par le XXe siècle, l'organisateur avait utlisé des policiers français et allemands, comme un groupe d'ingénieurs et de médecins."}}''</ref></blockquote>
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-027-1475-38, Marseille, deutsch-französische Besprechung.jpg|thumb|300px|right|French police head René Bousquet, in fur-trimmed coat, posing with Nazi German officials]]
A photo taken during this operation, and known since the beginning of the 1980s, shows head of French police René Bousquet posing with regional German police head {{ILL|Bernhard Griese|fr}} of the SS, a high level officer of [[Totenkopf]], regional ''prefect'' Marcel Lemoine, and [[Pierre Barraud]], delegate prefect of Marseille.<ref>Rajsfus, p.215</ref>

While 30,000 were expelled from their neighborhood, people from the criminal underworld, such as [[Paul Carbone]], voluntarily surrendered at the beginning of the week, to be jailed while the "horrible show" took place.<ref>Jean Bazal, ''Marseille Galante'' (Tacussel, 1989), quoted by Jean-Louis Parisi in ''Une ville en fuite, Marseille'' ([[éditions de l'Aube]], 1992), p.132, himself quoted by Rajsfus, 1995, p.216</ref>
Several hundreds of Jews of Marseille, both [[French citizens|French]] and foreign, were first sent to [[Fréjus]], than to the [[camp of Royallieu]] near Compiègne, and finally to [[Drancy internment camp]], from where they were sent to the extermination camps. In total, 2,000 Jews were put on the death trains.<ref>Quoted by Rajsfus, 1995, p.212</ref>

== See also ==
{{commons category|Round up of Marseille}}
*[[Collaborationism]]
*[[Vichy France]]
*[[René Bousquet]]
*[[Union générale des israélites de France]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Sources ==
*[[Maurice Rajsfus]], ''La Police de Vichy. Les forces de l’ordre françaises au service de la Gestapo, 1940/44'' ([[Le Cherche Midi]] éditeur, 1995 - in particular chapter XIV, ''La Bataille de Marseille'', pp.&nbsp;209–217)

== Further reading ==
*''Le Patriote résistant'', n°578 et 579 (janvier 1988)
*{{cite book |last=Delarue |first=Jacques |author-link=:fr:Jacques Delarue |title=Trafics et crimes sous l'occupation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bzUuMwEACAAJ |access-date=9 July 2015 |year=1968 |publisher=[[Fayard]]|location=Paris |language=fr |chapter=Part III La destruction du Vieux-Port de Marseille |trans-title=Trafficking and Crimes Under the Occupation |trans-chapter=The Destruction of the Old Port of Marseille |oclc=3329965 |pages=237–275 }}
*Gérard Guicheteau, ''Marseille 1943, la fin du Vieux-Port'' ([[éditions Le Provençal]], 1973 - quotes from ''Le Petit Marseillais'' and ''Signal'' are page 19 and page 49 of this book)
*[[Simon Kitson]], 'The Marseille Police in their context from Popular Front to Liberation', ''D Phil thesis'', University of Sussex, 1995
*[[Simon Kitson]], [https://www.scribd.com/doc/23131553/Simon-Kitson-French-Police-German-Troops-and-the-Destruction-of-Marseille-1943 ‘French Police, German Troops and the destruction of the old districts of Marseille, 1943’], in KNAFLA, Louis, Policing and war in Europe, Greenwood Press, 2002, pp 133–145.
*Anne Sportiolo, « Le Vieux-Port de Marseille », in ''[[L’Histoire]]'', n°16, octobre 1979

{{Vichy France}}
{{Holocaust France}}
[[Category:1st arrondissement of Marseille]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Marseille]]
[[Category:Vichy France]]
[[Category:1943 crimes in France]]
[[Category:Marseille in World War II]]
[[Category:1943 in Judaism]]
[[Category:The Holocaust in France]]
[[Category:Vichy French war crimes]]
[[Category:Law enforcement operations in France]]