The Escalation of German Reprisal Policy in Occupied France, 1941-42

This article deals with the escalation of German reprisal policy in occupied France in the years 1941 and 1942. The consequences of the German attack on the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 became apparent to the occupiers in August and September 1941, when the number of cases of active resistance increased. After a demonstration on 13 August 1941, the first draconic measures were imposed by the Wehrmacht, leading to the execution of two communists and the imprisonment of c. 3000 Jews. Two months later, the first mass executions of hostages were ordered after two members of the German armed forces were assassinated. However, the military administration in Paris soon realized the negative impact of mass executions on the overall situation in France. Therefore, the military commander argued for limited executions and the mass deportation of 'Jewish Bolsheviks'. The following conflict between Berlin and Paris over the appropriate reprisal policy led to the resignation of the military commander Otto von Stiilpnagel and the appointment of his cousin Carl Heinrich von Stiilpnagel as his successor, as well as the creation of the post of Higher SS and Police Commander in Paris. It will be shown that, despite these changes in 1942, there was a strong continuity in reprisal policy which in 1941 and 1942 targeted the ideological enemies of the Third Reich: the Jews and the communists. Nevertheless, it has to be admitted that after the arrival of the Higher SS and Police Commander in the summer of 1942 reprisal policy became even more ideologically rooted. Accordingly, when discussing reprisal policy one cannot describe the occupation of France as benign.