DARQUIER DE PELLEPOIX, LOUIS°

DARQUIER DE PELLEPOIX, LOUIS° (1897–1980), French fascist and antisemite. Darquier, who served with distinction in World War I, became active in fascist organizations. In 1935 he was elected municipal councilor in Paris on a "national and anti-Jewish" platform. He was head of the Rassemblement Antijuif de France and published the fascist La France Enchaînée. On May 6, 1942, pierre laval appointed him head of the General Commissariat of Jewish Affairs. He held this office until the end of February 1944, and collaborated closely with the Nazi occupation in the persecution of the Jewish population of France, which involved putting Jews "outside the law," spoliation of their property, and deportations. Upon the liberation of France, he escaped to Spain. He was convicted for high treason and condemned to death in absentia by the Haute Cour of France in 1946. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Billig, Le Commissariat Général aux questions juives (1941–44), 3 vols. (1955–60), index; IMT, Trial of the Major War Criminals (1949), index. (Yehuda Reshef)