Vichy France Quotes
In WWII, under the puppet Vichy Government, the Nazi’s demanded that all the French Banks provide the names, addresses, and holders of all bank accounts that were held by Jews or suspected Jews. Nazi agents visited the French Bank officials and threatened them if they did not comply. There were 5 American Banks doing business in France: J.P. Morgan, Chase Bank, Guarantee Trust, the Bank of the City of New York and American Express. Their bank account information was disgracefully turned over to the Nazis for fear of losing future business. The Nazis, in addition to murdering over 70,000 French Jews looted over $90 million worth of Jewish property including the money in the American banks. The American banks continued to cooperate with the French Vichy Government and the Nazis until American law made it illegal. The American Banks and their accounts in question however may not at the time have been controlled by the American owners. American Express, for example, had liquidated its interests in 1941 and transferred its accounts to French interests who appear to have been in control at the time of the disgraceful turnover or the records.
France with the largest Army in the world, did not even hold out against the Germans as long as tiny Norway had done. The military under the Vichy collaborationist government was even worse as many of the few true patriots had gone underground to form a French “resistance.”
Explaining the reason for the Paris insurrection against the occupying Germans in World War II in contrast to the general French collaboration and capitulation. The French army, which was larger than the German, put up minor resistance and capitulated quickly when the Germans invaded. A number of French leaders formed a Nazi puppet government in Vichy. Many Frenchmen collaborated with the German Nazis. One of the main reasons for the formation of the French Resistance movement was for the French to have any honor after the war was over. They wanted the world to know that there were Frenchmen who valued freedom and justice and were not cowards--there were French who would risk their lives for freedom and justice. The French Resistance was extremely effective but very small, and to many Frenchman's embarrassment, the Communists were much more active in the Resistance than the conservatives. When the allies were closing in on Paris, and the German's were pulling out, the Parisians could just have waited until the Allied troops forced the Germans out. However, a small group of Parisians organized a major insurrection where Germans were attacked and sniped out while they were pulling out. When the Allies arrived, the Parisians had not been passive victims who had been freed by foreign troops, but had participated in their own fight for freedom and thus retained some honor and dignity. The insurrection was not without cost as many French men and women were killed in the insurrection, and many thought that the gesture of honor was an unnecessary risk and sacrifice. But the war ended in France with the French active in expelling the enemy with great bravery, something that had not generally happened at the beginning or in the midst of the war.
Leahy also served as the U. S. Ambassador to the Vichy French Government. This was the German puppet government where traitors like Laval operated a government that was French in name only. After the war Laval was executed as a traitor. Vichy was the area of France where the Fascist French set up their government. See {587230} and {587229}.
