The
silence of the French Catholic Church when it came to the Holocaust and
the deportation of the Jews has always been controversial in France. On
October 3, 1940 the first anti-Semetic laws were passed by the Vichy government
which excluded Jews from public life. Then, on July 16 1942 a number
of Jews were round up in Paris and deported from the Drancy internment
camp, most of them to Auschwitz. The camp of Drancy was a transit
camp located not far from Paris. Like many other camps in France, it was
created by the government of Philippe Petain and was under the control
of French police. In 1941, the first raids against Jews was ordered by
the Nazis and conducted by the French police.The victims of these raids
were transfered to Drancy. There is much evidence about the brutality of
the French guards in Drancy. The conditions of life were extremely difficult,
due to neglect of personal, ordinary human needs,adequate food,unsanitary
conditions, and over-crowding. The reaction of churchmen was mixed.
Some chuchmen, such as Cardinal Alfred Baudrillart, supported the Nazis
and the the Vichy. But there were also those such as Jean Geraud Saliege
of Toulouse who condemned the deportation of the Jews. Although the Church
had supported the regime of Petain ever since 1940, several factors led
to Churchmen distance themselves from the regime. These factors included
not only the deportation of the Jews, but also the departure of young
workers for forced labor in Germany and the loss of the empire. Furthermore,
the Catholic Church was not satisfied with the pro-Church policies of the
regime and many Catholics were disappointed for not reaching a concordat.
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Jews in Concentration Camp in Drancy
Drancy
Many of the churchmen who initially
supported the regime of Petain had begun to have doubts about its actions.
Both Cardinal Emmanuel Suhard and Cardinal Pierre Marie Gelier, who initially
supported the regime, condemned the deportation of the Jews and protested
against the round up in 1942.
But the reaction of Church was in general silence. Ever since the
end of the war the Catholic Church has been condemned for its silence during
the deporation of the Jews in 1942. Only on October 1 1997, the Roman Catholic
Church officially apologized to the Jews for its silence during the deporation
in 1942. This official declartion was a sign of remore for the Catholic
Church in France due to its largely lack of action during the deportation
of the Jews. The National Front, led by Jean-Marie Le Pen, decalred
the decalaration a scandal and claimed that the apology showed its disdain
for historical truth.