Two former Vichy militiamen today went on trial in a Lyons court on charges of murdering Roger Worms, a Jewish banker, on Feb. 1, 1944. The defendants are Marc de Susini and Emile Arnus.
Of greater public interest in the case than the two accused murderers is the responsibility of Charles Maurras, then editor of L’Action Francais, who was once tried and cleared of responsibility in the murder. Five days before the bullet riddled body of Worms was found in his ransacked villa on the Riviera, Maurras editorially called for action against Worms. At his earlier trial, Maurras was acquitted because of forged evidence, since officially contradicted, that Worms was murdered 15 days before Maurras’ editorial appeared.
Maurras will again be questioned at this trial, but even if responsibility for the murder is proved it is likely that he will escape punishment under the French legal principle that forbids the placing of a defendant in double jeopardy. He is now serving a life sentence for having collaborated with the Nazis.
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.
