Joseph Darnand

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Roman Catholic bishop, see Joseph Darnand (bishop).
Joseph Darnand, wearing the wide beret of the Milice
Joseph Darnand, wearing the wide beret of the Milice

Joseph Darnand (March 19, 1897 – October 10, 1945) was a French pro-Nazi leader and commander of the Vichy French Milice.

Joseph Darnand was born at Coligny, Ain, Rhône-Alpes in France. He fought in the First World War and received seven citations for bravery. After the war he worked as a cabinetmaker and later founded his own transportation company in Nice. He also supported the Orléanist group Action Française.

Darnand joined a number of right-wing political, paramilitary organizations; l'Action Francaise in 1925, les Croix-de-Feu in 1928, la Cagoule and Jacques Doriot's Parti Populaire Francaise in 1936.[1] He formed his own Fascist outfit, the Chevaliers du Glaive, in the '30s became prominent among the Cagoulards ("Hooded Men") a secret terrorist group which organized bombings and assassinations, stored arms depots all over France.[2]

At the beginning of World War II Darnand volunteered to join the French army and served in the Maginot Line. He was captured in June 1940 but fled to Nice. He became a leading figure in the Vichy French organization Légion Francaise des combattants (French Legion of Veterans) and recruited troopers for the fight against Bolshevism.

The next year he founded the collaborationist militia, Service d'ordre légionnaire (SOL), that supported Philippe Pétain and Vichy France. He offered his help against the French Resistance. On January 1, 1943 he transformed the organization into the Milice. Although Pierre Laval was its official president, Darnand was its de facto leader. Darnand took an oath of loyalty to Adolf Hitler in October 1943 and received a rank of Sturmbannführer in the Waffen SS. In December 1943 he became head of police and later secretary of the interior. Joseph Darnand expanded the Milice and by 1944 it had over 35,000 members. The organization played an important role in investigating the French Resistance.[3]

After the Normandy Invasion and Allied advance Darnand fled to Germany in September 1944 and joined Pétain's puppet government in Sigmaringen. In April 1945 he had to flee from Sigmaringen to Merano in Northern Italy. He was eventually captured after the war and taken back to France, where he was executed by firing squad in October 1945.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Joining Right Wing Groups - World At War Biography"
  2. ^ "Joseph Darnand history by Time Magazine"
  3. ^ "Impact of Joseph Darnard on Milice and French Resistance from Spartacus Educational"
  • Biography in l'Humanité, March 23, 1994
  • escape of Darnand Gerald Steinacher, „Ich mache Sie zum Erzbischof von Paris, wenn Sie uns helfen” Die Flucht der Vichy-Regierung nach Norditalien 1945, in: Der Schlern, Heft 1, 2007, p. 23-35.