One the favorite obsessions of many American French bashers (Jay Leno's name comes to mind among many others) is to remind how the French sent their Jewish citizens into German hands through Drancy during WWII. Everyone agrees that was an appalling period.
For 25 years odd now, Anti-Semitism being the ultimate evidence of the vilest and most depraved morality, it goes without saying that Americans would never ever have engaged in such a horrendous policy based on race or religion. Yeah, sure...
But please, tell me, what was the Executive Order 9066 signed by President F.D Roosevelt on Feb 19th 1942 which enabled the US administration to send about 120.000 of it own citizens of Japanese descent to internment camps until the war was over?
The Japanese community was the main target of this racist policy of exclusion but there were also Americans of Italian and German descent who were sent to these camps.
So, should we conclude that both countries, France and the US have an equal responsibility for these shameful decisions?
Just a little difference yet:
In France it was a puppet government set up by the Nazis which was conducting this policy whereas America did it out of its free will. A policy implemented by an elected government which wasn't the case in France where no elections ever put in place the Pétain/Laval government.
Besides, it wasn't under the name of the French Republic that the rounding of the Jews was carried on but in the name of the French State. For those with some understanding of History, there's a "slight" difference...
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I'm not sure the 2 equate as the Japanese internment camps were not death camps.
Nonetheless, I was very troubled when I saw that Michele Malkin, a popular right-wing idiot who often appears on Fox News and is a darling of the right-wing media, wrote a book IN DEFENSE of it, and in fact is advocating for more of the same in the name of the so-called War on Terror.
What was even more troubling was that the book was a best-seller. There are really some sick people in America today.
Evidemment la différence est énorme mais ce sur quoi je voulais mettre l'accent c'est la facilité avec laquelle l'administration américaine de l'époque a disposé de ses propres citoyens.
Et surtout que cette politique a été menée de façon autonome et non imposée par un occupant ennemi.
Qui plus est, il n'a jamais été établi, que je sache, que cette campagne d'internement ait jamais eu un quelconque effet positif sur la conduite de la guerre, son déroulement, son issue.
Politique de ségrégation totalement improductive et racially motivated.
avec pour seul fondement la peur incontôlée d'un partie de ses propres citoyens.
On a mis le droit de côté, ou plutôt l'executive order 9066 est une nouvelle et énième illustration qu'on peut tout faire avec le droit, même contredire ses propres principes juridiques constitutionels.
Je ne jette d'ailleurs pas la pierre aux Américains pour ça (qui n'est pas glorieux tout de même) mais c'est un petit rappel que les sempiternelles rappels de Drancy par ces mêmes Américains sont un peu insupportables. Greg s'est laissé aller à ce genre de rappel chez toi il y a quelques mois.
Les camps de la mort n'étaient pas dirigés par les Français tout de même mais à lire nombre d'articles américains on pourrait croire qu'il y a moins de récriminations contre les Nazis que contre les Français qui en étaient tout de même les victimes...
Le livre auquel tu renvoies montre assez qu'il y aurait toujours dans n'importe quelle communauté ou nation suffisamment de forces politiques prêtes au pire au nom de quelque impératif sécuritaire, réel ou imaginaire, que ce soit. Les Américains comme les autres.
Think Guantanamo...
- Last night, ARTE had the first episodes of Ken Burns's documentary on WWII, "The War". It will continue over the coming Wednesdays.
There was mention of the Japanese-American internment. There were only a few Germans and Italians interned. Probably not many young Americans are aware of it.
- France also has some skeletons in its closet that you can't put on the puppet government. There is the massacre in Sétif, Algeria in 1945. This American woman has several videos on French-Algerian history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh9ldj9yARo
- In 1961, hundreds of Algerian-French were killed during a protest. In 1962, there were the killings at the Metro Charonne. The infamous Maurice Papon was head of the police.(I know you know, but this is for drive-by readers).
ned,
For sure, the Sétif massacre owes nothing to any puppet government.
It was the time when European countries were to discover the strengh and might of liberation forces from colonialism.. They reacted like it was acts of war on the motherlands.
regarding the 1961 drownings and Charonnes, I'll soon write a post about how no country is entitled to teach lessons to any other one;
Even the peaceful Swedes... (cf Adalen 1931)
There is one more thing Americans tend to forget : in the years before WWII, anti-semitism was prevailing in the USA. Roosevelt, who seemed to have had prescience of what was coming, tried to secure european jews places where they would be safe. there was an international convention, in Geneva IIRC. Countries pledge to accept jews. The USA pledges for 1,000 in one year. 1,000 ! Trujillo's Dominican Republic pledged for 100,000. There is still a jewish colony in Dominican Republic.
PS. I'm otherwise known as Zombie12toes
Damned ! I should have drunk some coffee…
Hi Zapow,
"in the years before WWII, anti-semitism was prevailing in the USA"
There's no country where anti-semitism doesn't exist. More prevalent here or there, depending of the history of each country.
The US certainly is no exception since its population was originating from Europe in the first place... European history came along.
Re the situation of the Jews and Roosevelt I once heard a srory about a ship denied harboring in Havana.
Thanks to your reminder, I've done a little research and found this
Thanks for passing by.
ZapPow,
Hmmm... I should have drunk more coffee since I miswrote your name. :-(
Pardon
No problem, fot the name.
The conference was in Evian-les-Bains in march 1938. I've found this :
http://www.ajhs.org/publications/chapters/chapter.cfm?documentID=302
and this :
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/sosua.html
There are many other documents.
An interesting story you exhumed. I didn't know about that. Could make a damned good film (one that most Americans wouldn't like, I think).
Merci pour les liens zappow.
Quant à la possibilité d'un film sur le "SS. Saint Louis", il y a déjà eu le film de Preminger "Exodus" (que je n'ai pas vu), sur un autre navire au destin plus ou moins similaire.
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