During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the Special Brigades (, or BS) were a
French police force in
Vichy France
Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...
specializing in tracking down "internal enemies" (i.e.
French Resistance
The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...
workers), dissidents, escaped prisoners, Jews and those evading the
obligatory labour service. It was dependent on the ''
Direction centrale des renseignements généraux
Direction may refer to:
*Body relative direction, for instance left, right, forward, backwards, up, and down
** Anatomical terms of location for those used in anatomy
** List of ship directions
*Cardinal direction
*Bearing (navigation)
Mathemat ...
'' (RG) and worked in direct collaboration with the German civil, secret and military police, the ''
Geheime Feldpolizei
The ''Geheime Feldpolizei'' (; ), shortened to GFP, was the secret military police of the German ''Wehrmacht'' until the end of the Second World War (1945). Its units carried out plainclothes and undercover security work in the field. Their ope ...
''. It was based in room 35 on the first floor of the Paris
Prefecture of Police
In France, a Prefecture of Police (), headed by the Prefect of Police (), is an agency of the Government of France under the administration of the Ministry of the Interior. Part of the National Police, it provides a police force for an area lim ...
. The Special Brigades was known to commit
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
.
The Special Brigades were formed in March 1940 and tasked with suppressing communist activities.
The Special Brigades was organized by the Director of General Information at the Prefecture of Police Lucien Rottée, who appointed Commissioner Fernand David as Head of the Special Brigades.
After the Liberation of France, 150 police officers from the Special Brigades were prosecuted. Sixty-four inspectors were sentenced, including twenty-two to the death penalty: ten were executed. Rottée and David were tried, condemned for treason and executed by firing squad at
Fort de Montrouge on May 5 1945.
See also
*
Carlingue
The ''Carlingue'' (or French Gestapo) were French auxiliaries who worked for the Gestapo, ''Sicherheitsdienst'' and ''Geheime Feldpolizei'' during the German occupation of France in the Second World War.
The group, which was based at 93 rue L ...
, French auxiliaries working for the
Gestapo
The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
.
*
Bezen Perrot, a Breton nationalist formation associated with the
SS
References
{{Vichy France
French collaboration during World War II
Legal history of Vichy France
French Resistance
National Police (France)