Neo-Destour

World War II

At the outbreak of war in 1939, Neo-Destour leaders, though still untried, were deported to France. However, they were released by the Nazis in 1942 following the German occupation of Vichy France. Hitler then handed them over to the Mussolini's fascist government in Rome. There the leaders were treated with deference, the fascists hoping to gain support for the Axis. Bourguiba steadily refused to cooperate. But Hussein Triki worked with the Nazis under Neo-Destour. After allies' advance, victory in El Alamein, he escaped to Europe, there he worked for The Mahgreb, a North African Arabic organization working for the Nazis' war machine against the allies and has collaborated with Hitler's ally Mufti of Palestine.