Le secrétariat d'État à l'Aviation et la politique d'exclusion des Juifs

Abstract

Under the command of general Bergeret, the Air Force office intends to prove overzealously how the anti Jewish laws can be enforced. At the time of the interdepartmental meeting prior to the law of June 1941, it is the only department to ask for and obtain a more restrictive revision of the text. Very minute inquests enable the department to check that no civil servant or military man managed to escape the law. There are various reasons to this attitude : this department which is very anxious about its efficiency, is essential for the government, and cares to gain the favour of the German services on which the civilian as well as the military aviation district depend; it can also be pointed out that this district endeavours to dismiss the politics of nationalization of the Popular Front to which personalities of Jewish origin were associated. This article presents results backed up by figures of these politics of exclusion in the Air Force Office, and moves on to the very specific problem of the aviation industries among which the exclusion of Jews was enforced in a discretionary way.