Georges Mandel, French statesman whose “accidental” death last July was reported by his Nazi captors, accused Marshal Henri Philippe Petain in a telegram in November, 1942, when the Germans were entering Southern France, of being “responsible before history for this crime” of “handing me over to an enemy,” the French Telegraph Agency said today.
The text of the telegram was discovered at the post office whence it was sent, said the dispatch, which was reported by the Federal Communications Commission. “This document clearly established Petain’s responsibility, who was warned of the consequences of arbitrary acts perpetrated on his orders, and provides new testimony to the clear-sighted and tranquil courage of Clemenceau’s former collaborator,” the dispatch states.
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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.