L’antisémitisme au conservatoire : du recensement des élèves juifs à leur exclusion (1940-1942)

Abstract

This article based mainly on two archival sources – the Archives of the Conservatory and the Archives of the Beaux-Arts – describes the chain process that brought about, firstly, the exclusion of Jewish teachers (dated December 1940) and later the exclusion of Jewish students (dated September 1942). The first statute was published on October 18th, 1940 and called for the dismissal in the coming two months of all Jewish teachers in France. On December 18th, teachers at the Conservatory were dismissed along with colleagues at other institutions. What is most striking is the fact that earlier, on October 3rd, the Board of Directors of the Conservatory bypassed the Vichy government and arranged the dismissal procedure directly with the German occupying authorities. In regard to students, the Vichy government already began to prepare a filing system with the intention of excluding Jewish students in October 1940.The expulsion of Jewish students in France was probably an inevitable result of the clash between the Vichy regime, tied to its legal statutes, and the Nazi occupying authorities who brutally interfered in the conduct of the government. The article also shows the contradictions within the Vichy government which gradually came to understand that the numerus clausus, in effect since June 1941, was not applicable to the Conservatory. In fact, this institution had the unique “privilege” of being the only public institution from which all Jewish students were expelled.In conclusion, the article also discusses a recent episode, which occurred in the spring of 2011, which displays parallels to the past events.