Paul Touvier: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|French Nazi collaborator (1915–1996)}}

{{Refimprove|date=June 2023}}

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Paul Touvier

| image =

| image_size =

| caption =

| birth_name = Paul Claude Marie Touvier

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1915|04|03}}

| birth_place = [[Saint-Vincent-sur-Jabron]], [[Alpes-de-Haute-Provence|Basses-Alpes]], [[France]]

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1996|7|17|1915|04|03}}

| death_place = [[Fresnes Prison]], [[Fresnes, Val-de-Marne|Fresnes]], [[France]]

| nationality = French

| other_names = Paul Berthet

| trial =

| known_for =

| conviction_penalty = [[Life imprisonment]] (1994)

| party =

| module = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes

| embed_title = Career

| allegiance = {{flag|Vichy France}}

*{{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_collaborationist_French_Militia.svg}} Head of the intelligence department in the [[Chambéry]] Milice

| branch = [[Milice]]

| serviceyears = 1943–1945

| rank =

| unit =

| spouse = Monique Berthet (m. 1947–1996; his death)

| children = 2

| battles =

| awards =

}}

| conviction = [[Crimes against humanity]]

}}

'''Paul Claude Marie Touvier''' ({{IPA|fr|pɔl tuvje}}; 3 April 1915 – 17 July 1996) was a French [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|Nazi collaborator]] and war criminal during [[World War II]] in [[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|Occupied France]]. In 1994, he became the first Frenchman ever convicted of [[crimes against humanity]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Paul-Touvier|title=Paul Touvier {{!}} French war criminal|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-10-12}}</ref> for his participation in [[the Holocaust]] under [[Vichy France]].

== Early life ==

Paul Claude Marie Touvier was born on 3 April 1915 in [[Saint-Vincent-sur-Jabron]], [[Alpes de Haute-Provence]], in southeastern France. His family was devoutly [[Roman Catholic]], lower-middle-class and extremely [[Conservatism|conservative]].<ref name="morgan">{{cite news|first=Ted|last=Morgan|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE3D9143BF932A35753C1A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all|title=L'Affaire Touvier: Opening Old Wounds|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|___location=New York City|date=October 1, 1989|access-date=February 12, 2011}}</ref><ref name="chrd">{{cite web|url=http://www.chrd.lyon.fr/chrd/sections/fr/pages_fantomes/biographies/paul_touvier/|title=Biography of Paul Touvier|website=www.chrd.lyon.fr|publisher=Centre d'Histoire de la Résistance et de la Déportation|___location=Lyon, France|access-date=13 February 2011|language=fr|archive-date=21 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721010151/http://www.chrd.lyon.fr/chrd/sections/fr/pages_fantomes/biographies/paul_touvier/|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was one of 11 children,<ref name="chrd" /> and the oldest of the five boys. He served as an [[altar boy]] when he was young, and attended a seminary for a year, intending to become a priest.<ref name="morgan" />

Touvier's mother, Eugenie, was an orphan who was raised by nuns. As an adult, she was very religious and went to [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] every day.<ref name="morgan" /> She died when Touvier was a teenager.<ref name="chrd" /> His father, François Touvier, was a tax collector in [[Chambéry]], after having retired after serving as a career soldier for 19 years. Touvier's father was very conservative, an admirer of the [[monarchist]] and [[anti-parliamentarist]] [[Charles Maurras]] and ''L'[[Action Française]]''.<ref name="morgan" />

Paul Touvier graduated from the Institute [[Francis de Sales|Saint Francis de Sales]] in Chambéry at the age of 16. When he turned 21, his father got him a job as a clerk at the local railroad station, where he was working when World War II began.<ref name="chrd" /> Touvier was mobilized for the war effort in 1939. After the [[Vichy government]] was created, Touvier and his family were firm supporters of its leader [[Philippe Pétain]]. Father and son joined the Vichy veterans' group when it was founded in 1941.<ref name="morgan" />

== War years ==

{{Unreferenced|section|date=April 2022}}

Joining the French [[8th Infantry Division (France)|8th Infantry Division]], Touvier fought against the German [[Wehrmacht]] until, following the bombing of [[Chateau-Thierry]], he [[desertion|deserted]]. Touvier returned to Chambéry in 1940, which was then occupied by the [[Kingdom of Italy]]. His life took a new course after the [[Milice]] (the Vichy French militia) was established.

Touvier had become known for womanizing and for trading in the [[Black market in wartime France|black market]]. Disgusted by his son's libertine lifestyle, his devoutly Catholic father persuaded him to join the Milice, hoping that a little military discipline would "make a man out of his son."

Touvier was eventually appointed head of the intelligence department in the Chambéry Milice under the direction of the [[Gestapo]] and [[Sicherheitsdienst|SD]], serving as a subordinate. In January 1944 he became its second regional head.

In Paris on 28 June 1944, 15 members of the [[French resistance|Résistance]], dressed as members of the Milice, [[assassin]]ated Vichy France Minister for Propaganda [[Philippe Henriot]] as he slept in the Ministry building where he lived and worked. As it was suspected that the assassins were from Lyon, Touvier was ordered to conduct reprisal killings. On 30 June, Touvier found seven French Jewish prisoners already in custody, and had them [[executed]] by [[firing squad]].

== Post-liberation ==

{{Unreferenced|section|date=April 2022}}

After the liberation of France by the [[Allies of World War II|Allied forces]], Touvier went into hiding; he escaped the [[summary execution]] suffered by many suspected collaborators during the ''[[épuration sauvage]]''. On 10 September 1946, the government [[death sentence|sentenced him to death]] ''[[Trial in absentia|in absentia]]'' for [[treason]] and collusion with the [[Nazis]]. In 1947, he was arrested for [[armed robbery]] in Paris, but escaped.

== Fugitive ==

{{Unreferenced|section|date=April 2022}}

By 1966, implementation of his death sentence was barred based on a 20-year [[statute of limitations]]. Attorneys for Touvier filed an application for a pardon. They requested that the lifetime ban on leaving the country and the confiscation of goods linked to [[capital punishment]] be lifted. In 1971, French President [[Georges Pompidou]] granted Touvier the pardon.

Pompidou's pardon caused a public outcry. This increased when it was revealed that most of the property which Touvier claimed as his own had allegedly been seized from deported Jews.

On 3 July 1973, [[Georges Glaeser]] filed a complaint against Touvier, charging him with crimes against humanity, which had no statute of limitations. Glaeser accused Touvier of ordering the execution of seven Jewish hostages at [[Rillieux-la-Pape]] near [[Lyon]], on 29 June 1944 in retaliation for the murder of [[Philippe Henriot]], the Vichy Government's Secretary of State for Information and Propaganda, which had occurred the previous evening. After being indicted, Touvier disappeared again. Years of legal maneuvering ensued through his lawyers until a [[Warrant (law)|warrant]] was issued for his arrest on 27 November 1981.

== Arrest and trial ==

On 24 May 1989, Touvier was arrested at the [[Society of Saint Pius X]] (SSPX) [[priory]] in [[Nice]]. The SSPX said at the time that Touvier had been allowed to live in the priory as "an act of charity to a [[homeless]] man".<ref>[http://www.angelusonline.org/print.php?sid=831 Angelus Online<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040757/http://www.angelusonline.org/print.php?sid=831 |date=2007-09-28 }}</ref>

== Death ==

{{Unreferenced|section|date=April 2022}}

On 17 July 1996, Paul Touvier died of [[prostate cancer]] at the age of 81 in [[Fresnes Prison]], near Paris. A [[Tridentine Mass|Tridentine]] [[Requiem Mass]] was offered for the repose of his [[Soul (spirit)|soul]] by Father [[Philippe Laguérie]] at [[St Nicolas du Chardonnet]], the [[Society of St. Pius X]] chapel, in Paris. He was survived by his widow, Monique (died 2018), and their two children, Chantal and Pierre.

== In popular culture ==

The [[Irish-Canadian]] [[novelist]] [[Brian Moore (novelist)|Brian Moore]]'s 1995 novel, ''[[The Statement (novel)|The Statement]]'', is loosely based on Touvier's life. It was adapted as a film, also titled ''[[The Statement (film)|The Statement]]'' (2003), directed by [[Norman Jewison]]. [[Michael Caine]] appeared as Pierre Brossard, a character inspired by Touvier.

An episode of the [[History Television]] series ''Nazi Hunters'', first broadcast on 1 November 2010,<ref>[http://www.history.ca/ontv/titledetails.aspx?titleid=252567 HistoryTelevision.ca] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209222018/http://www.history.ca/ontv/titledetails.aspx?titleid=252567 |date=2010-12-09 }}</ref> documented the 1989 efforts of French authorities to find and arrest Touvier.

== Brel connection ==

For several years, the Belgian singer [[Jacques Brel]] worked with Touvier.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Jacques|last=Cordy|url=http://archives.lesoir.be/jacques-brel-berne-par-monsieur-paul-_t-19940325-Z07ZL0.html|title=Jacques Brel Berné par "&nbsp;Monsier Paul&nbsp;"|magazine=[[Le Soir]]|publisher=[[Rossel (company)|Rossel & Cie, SA]]|___location=Brussels, Belgium|date=25 March 1994|access-date=13 February 2011|language=fr}}</ref> Touvier met Brel by reportedly approaching him in a restaurant and saying, "I am Paul Touvier, a condemned man." Touvier was the producer of a sex-education record for French families, issued by [[Philips Records|Philips]], which included tracks sung by Brel.<ref name="path">{{cite web|url=http://www.overgrownpath.com/2010/01/love-life-and-crimes-against-humanity.html|title=Love, life and crimes against humanity|website=On an Overgrown Path|date=January 27, 2010|access-date=February 13, 2011}} </ref> Brel's wife, however, said that they knew him only as "Paul Berthet", an alias which he sometimes used, based on his wife's [[maiden name]].<ref name="path" />

== See also ==

*[[Maurice Papon]]

== References ==

{{reflist}}

==Further reading ==

* [[Brian Busby]], ''Character Parts: Who's Really Who in [[Canadian literature|CanLit]]'' ([[2003 in literature|2003]]). {{ISBN|0-676-97579-8}}.

== External links ==

* [[Simon Kitson]], [http://www.port.ac.uk/special/france1815to2003/chapter8/interviews/filetodownload,27676,en.pdf "Bousquet, Touvier and Papon: Three Vichy personalities"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520113939/http://www.port.ac.uk/special/france1815to2003/chapter8/interviews/filetodownload,27676,en.pdf |date=2011-05-20 }} University of Portsmouth French History Interview series

* [http://www.chrd.lyon.fr/chrd/sections/fr/pied/english_1 Resistance and Deportation History Centre] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110124140355/http://www.chrd.lyon.fr/chrd/sections/fr/pied/english_1 |date=2011-01-24 }}

{{Holocaust France}}

{{Vichy France}}

{{French far right}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Touvier, Paul}}

[[Category:1915 births]]

[[Category:1996 deaths]]

[[Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in France]]

[[Category:French Army personnel of World War II]]

[[Category:French people convicted of crimes against humanity]]

[[Category:French people convicted of war crimes]]

[[Category:French people who died in prison custody]]

[[Category:French police officers convicted of murder]]

[[Category:French prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]

[[Category:French traditionalist Catholics]]

[[Category:Holocaust perpetrators in France]]

[[Category:Milice personnel]]

[[Category:Nazis sentenced to death in absentia by France]]

[[Category:Nazis who died in prison custody]]

[[Category:People convicted of indignité nationale]]

[[Category:People convicted of murder by France]]

[[Category:People from Alpes-de-Haute-Provence]]

[[Category:Police officers convicted of crimes against humanity]]

[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by France]]

[[Category:Prisoners who died in French detention]]

[[Category:Recipients of French presidential pardons]]

[[Category:World War II crimes in France]]

[[Category:Vichy French war criminals]]