Pierre Pucheu
Pierre Firmin Pucheu (born June 20, 1899 in Beaumont-sur-Oise , † March 20, 1944 in Algiers , executed) was a French politician. From July 1941 to April 1942 he was Minister of the Interior of Vichy France .
Life
Pucheu attended the École normal supérieure and then worked in industry. He led the explorations of the Comptoir sidérurgique (French steel cartel) at the Chambre syndicale de la sidérurgie française and participated in the creation of the European steel cartel of 1926 under Robert Schuman .
In 1934 he became a member of the Croix de Feu of François de La Rocque , an association of former combatants. In 1936 he joined the Parti populaire français of the former communist Jacques Doriot . After being offered a management position at the Jewish bank Worms, he left the right-wing extremist party in 1937.
Vichy France
Initially Secretary of State for Industrial Production, he moved to the Interior Ministry of Vichy-France on July 18, 1941 and became Interior Minister on August 11 as successor to François Darlan .
Together with Minister of Justice Joseph Barthélémy he founded as a result of the attack on the Marine administrative assistant Alfons Moser by Gilbert Brustlein in the Paris metro station Barbès-Rochechouart of 21 August 1941 and two further terrorist acts which Sections spéciales and paramilitary Groupe mobile de réserve (GMR, forerunner of the Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité ). As hostages, who were executed under Otto von Stülpnagel , Pucheu delivered militant communists from the internment camp in Châteaubriant to him.
After the Allied landing in North Africa ( Operation Torch ) in early November 1942, Pucheu traveled to Casablanca and asked General Henri Giraud to join the landing forces, which he accepted.
process
At the protest of Gaullists and Communists, he was imprisoned in Algiers and charged with “ defeatism , treason , murder of resistance fighters and the hunt for workers for the benefit of the Nazi Empire”. The prosecutors said that he had long been sentenced to death by the Resistance Fighters Committee . The defense attorneys denied the allegations. They called the process a communist conspiracy and General Henri Giraud called for it to be postponed until France was liberated again. The Gaullists certified that Pucheu had changed his mind before landing and provided documents for this.
Pierre Pucheu, who had the closing words, said: “The majority of French people followed Pétain as long as they thought he was serving France. Are they traitors or third rate patriots? ... (My condemnation will) set the first peg for civil war .. Whatever happens, long live France! "
Pucheu was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was the first collaborator to be executed by the épuration judiciaire .
swell
- ↑ Situation report of the military commander in France (February / March 1942) ( Memento of the original dated September 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Time, March 20, 1944
Web links
- Marc Olivier Baruch: The prefects and the exercise of power in France during the Vichy period
- Literature by and about Pierre Pucheu in the catalog of the German National Library
- Newspaper article about Pierre Pucheu in the 20th century press kit of the ZBW - Leibniz Information Center for Economics .
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| François Darlan |
Interior Minister of France August 11, 1941 - April 17, 1942 |
Pierre Laval |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pucheu, Pierre |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Pucheu, Pierre Firmin (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French Minister of the Interior |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 20, 1899 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Beaumont-sur-Oise |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 20, 1944 |
| Place of death | Algiers |