In response to the City Hall of Vichy on the name 'Vichy regime'

Some press articles published this weekend misinterpreted the position of the Mémorial de la Shoah regarding a possible removal of the name, Vichy regime.   In a letter of response to the mayor of Vichy, Jacques Fredj wrote that he was committed to debating within the scientific council of the Memorial the use of the name « Vichy regime » when the redesign of the Memorial’s website would occur.

This redesign is not currently on the agenda. Moreover, at no time was there any question of completely suppressing this designation which has become emblematic, used by so many historians and so many historical works. It is rather a matter of specifying it, diversifying it and questioning the historical references to which it refers. Thanks to the work of historians and the archives recently acquired by the Memorial, we know better the role of Marshal Pétain and Pierre Laval in the implementation of the anti-Semitic program and policy of the regime they initiated and led from 1940 to 1944. This policy led them to assist the Nazis in organizing the persecution and deportation of the Jews of France. The name Vichy regime does not reflect the responsibility of Pétain and Laval in implementing this policy. This is what the Memorial wants to put into debate.

75 years after the end of the war and while we notice a lack of knowledge among young people, refining and completing the terminology with historical references will help to better convey the history of the Holocaust.