Holocaust in France: Star of David Juif Badges (June 1942)


Figure 1.--'Le Matin' along with war news announced the order for Jews to wear the Statr of David Juif badges. The headlne read, 'Jews must wear the yellow star starting June 7". It was an order issued by the Wehrmacht occupation cimmander. This is only one of many examples of how throughly the Wehrmacht was involved in the Holocaust. All Jews 6 years or older were required to wear the badges when in public. The announcement did not say why Jews were required to wear the badges only that they were required to do so.

The Germans first introduced the Jewish badges in Poland (November 1939). This reflected the difficulty they had in identifying Jews during several years of anti-Jewish efforts in the Reich. They were slower to do the same in the Reich and Western Europe. They never even tried in Denmark. The French situation is complicated and we have not yet found any detailed description of the regulations issued in France. Most of the badges were yellow star of David badges with 'Juif' (the Fench word for Jew) in Hebrew style letters. This was common to use the local word. We do not yet have a full copy of the decree, but some of it can be seen in the Le Martin clipping here (figure 1). The order was issued by the Wehrmacht occupation commander. This is only one of many examples of how throughly the Wehrmacht was involved in the Holocaust. All Jews 6 years or older were required to wear the badges when in public. In many areas of NAZI-occupied Europe, children younger than about 10 years did not have to wear the badges. In France the age was set at 10 years. We have seen images of very young children wearing them. We also notice arm bands for children. The Germans had some difficulty enforcing the regulation in France. The Vichy authorities apparently refused to implement the order in the unoccupied zone, telling the Germans that the anti-Jewish measures they had already been implemented were sufficent and that such badges would 'shock' the French people. The Germans implemented the decree in the occupied zonee (June 1942). (One source dates the legal degree to May 29, 1942.) We note the Jewish children badges wearing the badges to school. An example is an unidentified Jewish boy in a Paris school. This was done as the death camps in Poland became operational and the transports began from the West. The badges helped to make in easier to identify Jews. Many French Jews refused to wear the badge. And even in the occupied are, many French Jews could get away with not wearing the badge, especially if they did not look Jewish. One report suggests that some French non-Jews expressed their empathy for Jews by wearing stars, but we do not know how common this was and they risked being picked up once the deportations began. It certaibly does not appear in the photographic record. Some sources suggest that the French police did not enforce the decree strictly. We asre not entirely sure about tyhis.







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Created: 12:22 AM 7/20/2012
Last updated: 8:48 PM 9/4/2017