German troops occupied the so-called “free” zone in November 1942. In January 1943, the Resistance carried out several attacks against the occupying forces, particularly in Marseille.
The German authorities ordered reprisal operations: on January 22, 23, and 24, 1943, accompanied by the national police, the Nazi occupiers launched a massive roundup in the working-class neighborhoods of the city center. Six thousand people were arrested, and 1,642 were deported, including 782 Jews who were transferred to the Sobibor extermination camp.
Following the German invasion of the southern zone, Occupation troops entered Marseille on November 12, 1942. From that point on, armed Resistance intensified; on January 3, explosives were thrown into the Hôtel Splendide, a hotel frequented by Germans.
At the same time, a brothel reserved for the occupying forces was destroyed. Residents of working-class neighborhoods came under suspicion.
Himmler (the chief architect of the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question”) ordered the arrest of the “criminals of Marseille ” (Jews and foreigners), their deportation to Germany—with a quota set at 8,000 people—and the destruction of their neighborhood.
The assistance of the French police and the “reserve mobile guard” was required. As part of France’s participation in the operation, the roundup was placed under the authority of René Bousquet, secretary general of the Vichy regime’s police force, acting on the orders of Pierre Laval, head of the government.
Bousquet received police reinforcements (1,200 officers) and proposed expanding the operation to the entire city.
On January 22 and 23, 1943, the Vieux-Port neighborhood was cordoned off; homes were searched for 36 hours, and nearly 6,000 people were brutally arrested. About 4,000 were released, but 1,642 were sent, as early as January 24, to the Royallieu-Compiègne transit camp.
782 Jews, including 570 French citizens, were sent directly to the Drancy transit camp, and were then deported to Sobibor on March 23 and 25.
On January 24, 1943, the xenophobic authorities targeted Armenians, Italians, and Africans.
25,000 residents were evacuated; 5,000 escaped. Of the 20,000 people sent to the Fréjus military camp, the Germans singled out 800—from Italian, Corsican, and Marseillais families (as well as Jews who had escaped the first phase of the roundup)—along with 600 suspects. All were deported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
Barely 100 people will survive.
Operation “Sultan” is complete. From February 1 to 17, 1943, the Germans completely razed the working-class heart of Marseille, which the Nazis had dubbed “the wart on Europe’s face”: 1,494 buildings were demolished, leaving behind piles of rubble.
References:
— Rajsfus, Maurice, 1995, *The Vichy Police: French Law Enforcement in the Service of the Gestapo, 1940–44*. Published by Le Cherche Midi
— Richardot Robin, 2021, “In Marseille, the Forgotten Roundup at the Old Port.” Le Monde.
