Paul Claude Marie Touvier (3 April 1915 – 17 July 1996) was a French Nazi collaborator 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 ...

Occupied France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...

. In 1994, he became the first Frenchman ever convicted of

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 ...

, for his participation in the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

under

Vichy France 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 ter ...

Early life

Paul Claude Marie Touvier was born on 3 April 1915 in

Saint-Vincent-sur-Jabron Saint-Vincent-sur-Jabron (; oc, Sant Vincenç de Jabron) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department The following is a list of t ...

Alpes de Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP (; oc, Aups d'Auta Provença; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the eas ...

, in southeastern France. His family was devoutly

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 ...

, lower-middle-class and extremely

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

. He was one of 11 children, and the oldest of the five boys. He served as an

altar boy An altar server is a laity, lay assistant to a member of the clergy during a Christian liturgy. An altar server attends to supporting tasks at the altar such as fetching and carrying, ringing the altar bell, helps bring up the gifts, brings up t ...

when he was young, and attended a seminary for a year, intending to become a priest. Touvier's mother, Eugenie, was an orphan who was raised by nuns. As an adult, she was very religious and went to

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

every day. She died when Touvier was an adolescent. His father, François Touvier, was a tax collector in

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the prefecture of the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France. The population of the commune of Chambéry was 58,917 as of 2019, while the population of the Chambér ...

, after having retired after serving as a career soldier for 19 years. Touvier's father was very conservative, an admirer of the

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

and

anti-parliamentarist A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

Charles Maurras Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet, and critic. He was an organizer and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that is monarchist, anti-parl ...

and ''L'

Action Française Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 f ...

. Paul Touvier graduated from the Institute

Saint Francis de Sales Francis de Sales (french: François de Sales; it, Francesco di Sales; 21 August 156728 December 1622) was a Bishop of Geneva and is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to ...

in Chambéry at the age of 16. When he turned 21, his father got him a job as a clerk at the local railroad station, where he was working when World War II began. Touvier was mobilized for the war effort in 1939. After the

Vichy government 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 ...

was created, Touvier and his family were firm supporters of its leader

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of World ...

. Father and son joined the Vichy veterans' group when it was founded in 1941.

War years

Joining the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

's 8th Infantry Division, Touvier fought against the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

until, following the bombing of Chateau-Thierry, he deserted. Touvier returned to Chambéry in 1940, which was then occupied by the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

. His life took a new course after the

Milice The ''Milice française'' (French Militia), generally called ''la Milice'' (literally ''the militia'') (), was a political paramilitary organization created on 30 January 1943 by the Vichy France, Vichy regime (with Nazi Germany, German aid) t ...

(the Vichy French militia) was established. Touvier had become known for womanizing and for trading in the

black market A black market, underground economy, or shadow economy is a clandestine market or series of transactions that has some aspect of illegality or is characterized by noncompliance with an institutional set of rules. If the rule defines the se ...

. Disgusted by his son's libertine lifestyle, his devoutly Catholic father persuaded him to join the Milice, hoping that a little military discipline would "make a man out of his son." Touvier was eventually appointed head of the intelligence department in the Chambéry Milice under the direction of the German SS official,

Klaus Barbie Nikolaus "Klaus" Barbie (25 October 1913 – 25 September 1991) was a German operative of the SS and SD who worked in Vichy France during World War II. He became known as the "Butcher of Lyon" for having personally tortured prisoners—primari ...

. In January 1944 he became its second regional head. In Paris on 28 June 1944, 15 members of the

Résistance 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 ...

, dressed as members of the Milice,

assassin Assassination is the murder of a prominent or VIP, important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not ha ...

ated Vichy France Minister for Propaganda

Philippe Henriot Philippe Henriot (7 January 1889 – 28 June 1944) was a French poet, journalist, politician, and minister in the French government at Vichy, where he directed propaganda broadcasts. He also joined the Milice part-time. Career Philippe Henriot, a ...

as he slept in the Ministry building where he lived and worked. As it was suspected that the assassins were from Lyon, Touvier was ordered to conduct reprisal killings. On 30 June, Touvier found seven French Jewish prisoners already in custody, and had them

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

firing squad Execution by firing squad, in the past sometimes called fusillading (from the French ''fusil'', rifle), is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war. Some reasons for its use are that firearms are us ...

Post liberation

After the liberation of France by the Allied forces, Touvier went into hiding; he escaped the

summary execution A summary execution is an execution in which a person is accused of a crime and immediately killed without the benefit of a full and fair trial. Executions as the result of summary justice (such as a drumhead court-martial) are sometimes include ...

suffered by many suspected collaborators during the epuration sauvage. On 10 September 1946, the government sentenced him to death ''

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in absen ...

'' for

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 ...

and collusion with the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

. In 1947, he was arrested for

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...

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 ...

, but escaped.

Fugitive

By 1966, implementation of his death sentence was barred based on a 20-year

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In m ...

. Following this, attorneys for Touvier filed an application for a

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...

. They requested that the lifetime ban on leaving the country and the confiscation of goods linked to

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

be lifted. In 1971, French President

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 196 ...

granted Touvier the pardon. Pompidou's pardon caused a public outcry. This increased when it was revealed that most of the property which Touvier claimed as his own had allegedly been seized from deported

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. On 3 July 1973, Georges Glaeser filed a complaint against Touvier in the

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

Court, charging him with crimes against humanity. There was no statute of limitations on such charges. Glaeser accused Touvier of ordering the execution of seven Jewish hostages at

Rillieux-la-Pape Rillieux-la-Pape () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central-eastern France. In 2017, it had a population of 30,012. Population Climate Twin cities Rillieux-la-Pape is twinned with three cities: ...

near

, on 29 June 1944. This was in retaliation for the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

, the Vichy Government's Secretary of State for Information and Propaganda, which had occurred the previous evening. After being indicted, Touvier disappeared again. Years of legal maneuvering ensued through his lawyers until a warrant was issued for his arrest on 27 November 1981.

Arrest and trial

On 24 May 1989, Touvier was arrested at the

Society of Saint Pius X The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) ( la, Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Pii X; FSSPX) is an international fraternity of traditionalist Catholic priests founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a leading traditionalist voice at the Sec ...

(SSPX)

Priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of mon ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

. The SSPX said at the time that Touvier had been allowed to live in the Priory as "an act of charity to a

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

man".

Death

On 17 July 1996, Paul Touvier died of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

at the age of 81 in

Fresnes Prison Fresnes Prison ('' French Centre pénitentiaire de Fresnes'') is the second largest prison in France, located in the town of Fresnes, Val-de-Marne, south of Paris. It comprises a large men's prison (''maison d'arrêt'') of about 1200 cells, a smal ...

, near Paris. A Tridentine

Requiem Mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

was offered for the repose of his

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

by Father

Philippe Laguérie Philippe Laguérie (born 30 September 1952 in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine) is a French Traditionalist Catholic priest. He was the first Superior General of the Institute of the Good Shepherd (french: Institut du Bon Pasteur), which upholds the Tridentin ...

at St Nicolas du Chardonnet, the Society of St. Pius X chapel, in Paris. He was survived by his widow, Monique (died 2018), and their two children, Chantal and Pierre.

In popular culture

The

Irish-Canadian ga, Gael-Cheanadaigh , image = Irish_Canadian_population_by_province.svg , image_caption = Irish Canadians as percent of population by province/territory , population = 4,627,00013.4% of the Canadian population (2016) , po ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

Brian Moore's 1995 novel, '' The Statement'', is loosely based on Touvier's life. It was adapted as a film, also titled '' The Statement'' (2003), directed by

Norman Jewison Norman Frederick Jewison (born July 21, 1926) is a retired Canadian film and television director, producer, and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. He has directed numerous feature films and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best D ...

Michael Caine Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite; 14 March 1933) is an English actor. Known for his distinctive Cockney accent, he has appeared in more than 160 films in a career spanning seven decades, and is considered a British film ico ...

appeared as Pierre Brossard, a character inspired by Touvier. The 1989 efforts by French authorities to find and arrest Touvier are documented in an episode of the

History Television The History Channel (also known as History) is a Canadian English language specialty channel that primarily broadcast programming related to history and historical fiction. It is owned by Corus Entertainment, with the History branding used under ...

series, ''

Nazi Hunters A Nazi hunter is an individual who tracks down and gathers information on alleged former Nazis, or SS members, and Nazi collaborators who were involved in the Holocaust, typically for use at trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against hum ...

'', first broadcast on 1 November 2010.

Brel connection

For several years, the Belgian singer

Jacques Brel Jacques Romain Georges Brel (, ; 8 April 1929 – 9 October 1978) was a Belgian singer and actor who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following—initially in Belgium and France, l ...

worked with Touvier. Touvier met Brel by reportedly approaching him in a restaurant and saying, "I am Paul Touvier, a condemned man." Brel's wife, however, said that they knew him only as "Paul Berthet", an alias which he sometimes used, based on his wife's

maiden name When a person (traditionally the wife in many cultures) assumes the family name of their spouse, in some countries that name replaces the person's previous surname, which in the case of the wife is called the maiden name ("birth name" is also used ...

References

External links

Simon Kitson Simon Kitson (born 1967) is a British historian. Kitson did his undergraduate studies at the University of Ulster and his post-graduate studies at the University of Sussex, under the supervision of Roderick Kedward. His doctoral thesi ...

"Bousquet, Touvier and Papon: Three Vichy personalities"
University of Portsmouth French History Interview series
Resistance and Deportation History Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Touvier, Paul 1915 births 1996 deaths Deaths from cancer in France Deaths from prostate cancer French collaborators with Nazi Germany French military personnel of World War II French people convicted of crimes against humanity French people who died in prison custody French police officers convicted of murder French prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment French traditionalist Catholics People convicted of treason against France People from Alpes-de-Haute-Provence People sentenced to death in absentia Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by France Prisoners who died in French detention War crimes in France People convicted of murder by France