Editing Maurice Papon (section)

==World War II==
Mobilised on 26 August 1939 in the 2nd colonial infantry regiment, Papon was sent to [[Tripoli, Lebanon|Tripoli]], [[Greater Lebanon|French Lebanon]]. He was assigned to direct the [[French secret services]] in [[Ras al-Ayn|Ras-el-Aïn]], in the north of [[Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon|French Syria]].<ref name="Monde"/> Following the [[fall of France]], he was demobilized and returned to France by October 1940. Papon opted to serve the [[Vichy France|Vichy government]], his mentors, Jean-Louis Dumesnil and Maurice Sabatier, having voted on 10 July 1940 to grant all power to [[Philippe Pétain]].<ref name="Monde"/>

Papon was appointed as the vice-chief of bureau to the central administration of the Ministry of Interior, before he was named, in February 1941, as vice-prefect, 1st class. The next month, he became Maurice Sabatier's general secretary and general secretary of the administration for the Interior Minister. While Papon chose Vichy, 94 civil servants were dismissed at the end of the spring of 1941, 104 pensioned off and 79 moved. Now, as ''[[Le Monde]]'' put it in 2002, "neutrality is no longer an option."<ref name="Monde"/>

In May 1942, his chief, Sabatier, was named prefect of [[Aquitaine]] by [[Pierre Laval]], the head of the Vichy government. Papon was appointed as general secretary of the prefecture of [[Gironde]] in charge of Jewish Affairs.<ref name="DatesCarreer">[http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/actualites/societe/20070217.OBS3027/les_grandes_dates_de_sa_carriere.html "Les grandes dates de sa carrière"], ''Le Nouvel Observateur'', 17 February 2007. {{in lang|fr}}</ref>

Papon later claimed he had Gaullist tendencies during the war. A confidential report from the [[Nazis]] at the time shows that in April 1943, he identified himself as a "[[collaborationist]]" during "personal or official conversations." Another document from July 1943 called him a "good negotiator."<ref name="Monde"/>

During [[World War II]], Papon served as a senior police official in the Vichy régime. He was the second official in the [[Bordeaux]] region (the secretary-general of the [[prefectures in France|prefecture]] of [[Gironde]]) and the supervisor of its Service for Jewish Questions. With authority over Jewish affairs, Papon regularly [[Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy|collaborated]] with [[Nazi Germany]]'s [[Schutzstaffel|SS]], which was responsible for the extermination of Jews.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} Under his command, about 1,560 Jews were deported. Most were sent directly to the [[camp of Mérignac]] and then they were transported to [[Drancy internment camp]], near Paris, and finally to [[Auschwitz]] or other [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camps]] for extermination.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

From July 1942 to August 1944, 12 trains left Bordeaux for Drancy; about 1,600 Jews, including 130 children under 13, were deported; few survived. Papon also implemented the [[anti-Semitic]] laws voted by the Vichy government. By July 1942, he had "dejudaised" 204 companies, sold 64 land properties owned by Jewish people and was in the process of "dejudaising" 493 other businesses.<ref name="Monde"/>