Editing Maurice Papon (section)

==Rehabilitation under the Fourth Republic==
{{Further|French Fourth Republic}}
Some ''résistants'' questioned his activities, but Papon avoided being judged by the [[Comité départemental de libération]] (CDL) of Bordeaux for his role during Vichy, as he was protected by Gaston Cusin.<ref name="Monde"/> He presented a certificate attesting that he had taken part in the Resistance, although its authenticity was later rejected.<ref name="DatesFig"/>

The CDL were in charge of the ''épuration'', the [[Pursuit of Nazi collaborators|pursuit of collaborators]]. During the [[Liberation of France]], the Resistance in Bordeaux was very weak. It lacked members because of internal dissensions and German repression. Maurice Sabatier, Papon's mentor and chief, was accused by the CDL of having "boasted" that his prefecture was one of the most efficient concerning the "percentage" of "deportations." He was sentenced only to a suspension of several months during which he was paid half his salary. In 1948, he was awarded the [[Légion d'honneur|Legion of Honour]] for general wartime service.<ref name="Monde"/>

Papon became chief of staff of the ''[[Commissioner of the Republic (Provisional Government)|commissaire de la République]]'', a high civil servant that replaced Vichy's prefects.<ref name="DatesFig"/> He effectively retained the same functions as during the war. [[Charles de Gaulle]] and others "perfectly knew his past," according to [[Olivier Guichard]].<ref name="Roussel">Éric Roussel, ''Charles de Gaulle'', éd. Gallimard, 2002, p. 460 {{in lang|fr}}{{ISBN?}}</ref> De Gaulle had received him personally after the liberation of Bordeaux in September 1944.<ref name="Monde"/>

Papon was first named [[prefectures of France|prefect]] of the [[Landes (department)|Landes]] department in August 1944 and then chief of staff of the commissaire of the Republic of Aquitaine, under Gaston Cusin. When Cusin left Bordeaux, his successor, [[Jacques Soustelle]], a Gaullist [[Résistant]], confirmed Papon into his functions. A few months later, [[Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury]] also confirmed him there.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

In October 1945, Papon was appointed as [[French rule in Algeria|vice-director of Algeria]] at the Minister of Interior. A year later, he became secretary of state to the Ministry of Interior [[Jean Biondi]] of the socialist [[French Section of the Workers' International]] (SFIO). Eric Roussel, a De Gaulle biographer, wrote that to the general and president, who was concerned with the survival of the Republic against undemocratic movements:<blockquote>"the authority of the state is so sacred, the danger constituted by the communists so intolerable, that he is disposed to accept without too many problems of conscience men who may have, for a fairly long time, worked on behalf of Vichy."<ref name="Roussel"/></blockquote>

Papon was named prefect of [[Corsica]] in January 1947 by [[Léon Blum]]'s government and, in October 1949, prefect of [[Constantine, Algeria|Constantine]] in Algeria by Radical [[Henri Queuille]]'s government (with SFIO member [[Jules Moch]] at the Interior). He went to [[Morocco]] in 1954 as general secretary of the protectorate, where he helped repress Moroccan [[nationalism|nationalists]]. He returned to Constantine in 1956 during the [[Algerian War]] (1954–1962), where he actively participated in the repression, including the use of [[torture during the Algerian War|torture against the civilian population]].<ref>[[Raphaëlle Branche]], [http://www.mfo.ac.uk/Publications/comptesrendus/branche.htm The French Army and Torture During the Algerian War (1954–1962)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020184243/http://www.mfo.ac.uk/Publications/comptesrendus/branche.htm |date=2007-10-20}}, mfo.ac.uk (2004); accessed 1 September 2015. {{in lang|en}}</ref>