Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Jacques Charles Noel Dugé de Bernonville (December 20, 1897 – April 26, 1972) was a French

collaborationist Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime, and in the words of historian Gerhard Hirschfeld, "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to t ...

and senior police officer in the Milice of the

Vichy regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...

in France. He was known to hunt down and execute

resistance fighters Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation to propaganda, hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns. In many countries, r ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, as well as for his participation in

anti-semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

programs, including the deportation of

French Jews The history of the Jews in France deals with Jews and Jewish communities in France since at least the Early Middle Ages. France was a centre of Jewish learning in the Middle Ages, but Persecution of Jews, persecution increased over time, includ ...

Drancy Drancy () is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris in the Seine-Saint-Denis department in northern France. It is located 10.8 km (6.7 mi) from the center of Paris. History Toponymy The name Drancy comes from Medieval Lati ...

and

extermination camps Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

. After his escape from France, he was convicted of war crimes and condemned to death. He was aided in entering

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada in 1946 by leading Catholics of the province. In 1948, his true identity was discovered by immigration officials, who instituted deportation proceedings. Count de Bernonville fled to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1957, the Supreme Court of Brazil refused to approve an extradition order. He was murdered by asphyxiation in 1972 by his servant's son.

Early life and education

Count Jacques Dugé de Bernonville was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

to an aristocratic family and educated in

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

schools. He became aligned with conservative political groups.

Career

In 1938, he was imprisoned for several months, charged with having taken part in the conspiracy of ''

La Cagoule La Cagoule (''The Cowl'', press nickname coined by the ''Action Française'' nationalist Maurice Pujo), originally called the ''Organisation secrète d'action révolutionnaire nationale'' (Osarn or OSAR; Secret Organisation for revolutionary nat ...

,'' a

far right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

group. He was released because of lack of proof. Following the 1940 defeat of France against

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

, Jacques de Bernonville joined the Vichy government. In 1943 he was appointed as a commander of the collaborationist Milice, the Vichy police. Working in conjunction with the head of the Milice

Joseph Darnand Joseph Darnand (19 March 1897 – 10 October 1945) was a French collaborator with Nazi Germany during World War II. A decorated soldier in the French Army of World War I and early World War II, he went on to become the organizer and ''de facto ...

, de Bernonville hunted down members of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

. They were almost always summarily executed. As a right-hand man to Klaus Barbie (later convicted for

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

), de Bernonville participated in the establishment and enforcement of the Vichy regime's program of

anti-Semitic Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

policies. They carried out the deportation of thousands of French Jews, refugee Jews and other "undesirables" to the

Drancy deportation camp Drancy internment camp was an assembly and detention camp for confining Jews who were later deported to the extermination camps during the German occupation of France during World War II. Originally conceived and built as a modernist urban comm ...

en route to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

and other German

extermination camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

Post-war escape to Canada

After the liberation of France by the Allied Forces and the

, de Bernonville was charged first, by the

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

special tribunal, with endangering the safety of the State in 1946 and, second, in 1947, of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

by the

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

"cour de justice". Found guilty and condemned to death, he fled the country. It is noteworthy that those tribunals were exceptional jurisdictions set up during the " Epuration" to "purge" all organs of state and civil society of those suspected of, or guilty of

collaboration Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...

with the German occupiers. Escaping French authorities in 1946, Count de Bernonville sailed to New York City. According to Kevin Henley, professor of history at

Collège de Maisonneuve Collège de Maisonneuve (or Cégep de Maisonneuve) is a francophone public pre-university and technical college located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Partnerships The College is affiliated with the ACCC, and CCAA. History In 1967, several in ...

in Montreal, the politically powerful

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

priest Lionel Groulx helped Count de Bernonville get into Quebec and established a new identity as Jacques Benoit. He was welcomed by a significant number of the Quebec nationalist elite, but in 1948, Canadian immigration authorities discovered his identity and instituted deportation proceedings. In an attempt to keep Count de Bernonville in Canada, 143 Quebec notables signed a 1950 petition defending him and stating that he should be allowed to stay. Signers included the secretary general of the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...

;

Camillien Houde Camillien Houde (August 13, 1889 – September 11, 1958) was a Quebec politician, a Member of Parliament, and a four-time mayor of Montreal – one of the few Canadian politicians to have served at all three levels of government. Political c ...

, mayor of the city of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

; plus Camille Laurin and

Denis Lazure Denis Lazure (October 12, 1925 – February 23, 2008) was a Canadian psychiatrist and politician. Lazure was a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) from 1976 to 1984 and from 1989 to 1996. He is the father of actress Gabrielle La ...

, two future cabinet ministers in the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

government. Faced with a deportation order, Count de Bernonville fled again, going to

. In 1954 the French government was advised of his location but, since Brazil had no extradition treaty with France, he escaped punishment. The Supreme Court of Brazil refused to extradite him in October 1957. Count de Bernonville remained in Brazil. He died in 1972, murdered by the son of his servant.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernonville, Jacques de 1897 births 1972 deaths Counts of France Deaths from asphyxiation French collaborators with Nazi Germany French emigrants to Quebec French emigrants to Brazil French military personnel of World War I French military personnel of World War II French nobility French people convicted of war crimes French people murdered abroad French police officers convicted of murder French prisoners sentenced to death Holocaust perpetrators in France Police officers from Paris People murdered in Brazil People sentenced to death in absentia Prisoners sentenced to death by France

Early life and education

Career

Post-war escape to Canada

Further reading

See also

References