The Law of June 2, 1941, or the “Second Jewish Statute,” enacted by the Pétainist Vichy regime, replaced the Law of October 3, 1940, “on the Status of Jews.” It redefined the concept of the “Jewish race” for broader discriminatory purposes and was accompanied by a new series of anti-Semitic measures.
The Vichy law of June 2, 1941—referred to by historians as the “Second Jewish Statute”—revived the concept of the “Jewish race,” which had no scientific basis.
Jews are barred from all public administration and political office. The list of prohibited professions is significantly expanded. Admission quotas are tightened for the liberal professions—lawyers, doctors, notaries, and publishers—as well as for students. They are set at 2 to 3 percent of the non-Jewish population.
Under these new measures, French offenders face penalties, including administrative internment, which until then had been reserved exclusively for foreign Jews.
In addition to this law, there was the German “Aryanization” ordinance (the expropriation and confiscation of Jewish property), which also applied in Algeria and the overseas territories.
This second status applies in particular to the oldest and most assimilated Jewish families. They are, in fact, the ones most affected by the numerus clausus and by the infringement of their property rights. Their situation now resembles that of foreign or denaturalized Jews.
Reference:
Lubetzki, J., 1945, The Situation of the Jews in France under German Occupation, 1940–1944. Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation
