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Nazis Order French Jews Listed by Police; Reich Definition of Jew to Be Used

October 6, 1940
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The German occupation authorities in France have ordered all Jews to appear at police headquarters before Oct. 31 for inscription in a special register in connection with a census of Jews in the occupied zone, it was reported here today.

The Nuremberg Law definition of a Jew has been introduced in France by the Germans to define those persons subject to the census, it was said. Anybody exercising the Jewish religion or whose parents or at least two grandparents were of the Jewish religion will be considered Jews.

The Nazi military also decreed that Jewish-owned business must display special placards in German and French announcing that the firms are Jewish. Under the new regulations Jews will not be permitted to return from the free zone to the occupied areas of France. Leaders of Jewish communities will be called upon to furnish on request all information and documents required in connection with the new regulations.

The exact definition of the legal term “Israelite” is one of the most thorny points of the Jewish statute now being discussed by the Petain Government, it was learned today. Religious affiliations have not been mentioned in French official documents for the past 60 years. The promulgation of the statute, which is expected shortly, will be followed by a census of all Jews and Jewish-owned enterprises in the unoccupied zone, observers said.

It was reported from Paris that the occupation authorities have closed the popular soup kitchen for refugees established by Mrs. Tauba Levine in 1934. The Levine kitchen daily fed more than 600 needy persons. No explanation for the action was given.

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