In retaliation for the Anglo-American landing in North Africa on November 8, 1942, the Germans decided to carry out the Occupation of the Mediterranean coast. On November 11, 1942, the German army crossed the demarcation line that, since the 1940 armistice, had separated occupied France—or the northern zone—from the southern zone, known as the “Free Zone.”
The Anglo-American landing in the Maghreb took place on November 8, 1942, as part of Operation Torch. On November 11, 1942, the Germans entered the southern zone. Administration of Nice and Savoy was entrusted to the Italians. The first consequence of the German divisions’ entry into the so-called “free” zone was the scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon, a decision made by French naval officers to prevent it from falling into the hands of the occupying forces.
Since the spring of 1941, the grip of repression has been tightening. In the north, roundups and arrests of Jews have been on the rise. High-risk clandestine crossings—alone or with families—into the unoccupied zone have intensified. At the mercy of unscrupulous smugglers, many Jews were arrested and then deported.
With the Occupation of the southern zone, the many Jews who had taken refuge there were hunted down just like the Jews who had remained in the northern zone.
From November 1942 to March 1943, the mass crossings into the southern zone came to a halt as attempts to reach the Italian-occupied zone were organized. The complete occupation of France by the German army strengthened the Vichy regime’s commitment to collaboration and its policy of deporting Jews to Eastern Europe.
Armed actions against the occupying forces soon expanded on a large scale, and the FTP-M.O.I. groups began to focus their efforts on fighting the Nazis and their collaborators, both in the south and in the north.
References:
— Alary, Eric, 2011, *The Jews and the Demarcation Line, 1940–1943*, No. 5. Cairn, “Les Cahiers de la Shoah.”
— Florentin Eddy, 2010,November 11, 1942: The Invasion of the Free Zone. Perrin.
