The sections of France occupied by Italian troops have escaped many of the harsher anti-Jewish edicts instituted in the areas policed by German forces, it was reported today in a Swiss newspaper dispatch received by the Office of War Information.
“Whereas territories under German occupation strictly apply the anti-Jewish measures of the Vichy government,” the report said, “these measures are not being taken in Nice and other cities under Italian occupying forces; in particular, the Italians are not demanding the wearing of the yellow star or the stamping of the word ‘Jew’ on the identity cards.”
Although the Nazis now occupy all France, the dispatch said, permits are still necessary to cross the demarcation line between the formerly occupied and “free” zones. The Swiss correspondent said only a few German troops remained in Vichy and that many French ministries had moved back to Paris. The only divisions of the Ministry of the Interior still said to be functioning in Vichy are the police and the Bureau for Jewish Affairs.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
