There has been no “factual” change in the position of Jews in North Africa compared to their status under the Vichy regime, it was emphasized today by Prof. Rene Capitant, Fighting French leader in North Africa, who has just arrived for consultations with General Charles de Gaulle.
For all practical purposes, Prof. Capitant told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in an interview, their situation today is no different from what it was on the day the Allies landed in North Africa.
Prof. Capitant, who taught law at the universities of Strasbourg and Algiers, said that the latest rulings on Jews by General Giraud, under which Jews under certain circumstances are being admitted to the French army, do not constitute abolition of the Vichy anti-Jewish laws but are merely their diminution. He declared there were no special concentration camps for Jews in North Africa, Jewish internees being kept in the general camps for political prisoners.
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