The dépôt of the Police Prefecture of Paris During the Occupation: French Collaboration in the Nazi Genocidal Policy

Abstract

The dépôt of the Police Prefecture of Paris, in the heart of the city, was one of the most important places of anti-Jewish repression in France during the Occupation. It was the hub for the deportation of almost a third of the 38,500 deportees domiciled in Paris who were not arrested by the French police during the round-ups, but even more Jews passed through the dépôt without eventually being deported. These arrests were mostly based on the justification of offences committed by Jews against French laws and German orders. From mid-1942, the dépôt gradually evolved from a platform for sorting those arrested with a view to bringing them before a French judge to the main concentration and transfer point for Jews arrested individually to the Drancy internment camp. Yet, despite its importance, the dépôt remains completely unknown. The aim of this article is to present the central role played by the dépôt in the daily anti-Jewish repression that sealed French collaboration with Nazi genocidal policies until the Liberation.