Maurice Papon
| Maurice Papon | |
|---|---|
Maurice Papon in 1945.
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| Born |
3 September 1910 Gretz-Armainvilliers, Seine-et-Marne, France |
| Died | 17 February 2007 (aged 96) Pontault-Combault, Seine-et-Marne, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Civil servant |
| Known for | Participating in the deportation of over 1600 Jews during World War II, and ordering the 1961 and 1962 Paris massacres of demonstrators for Algeria's independence from colonial France. |
Maurice Papon (French pronunciation: [moʁis papɔ̃]; 3 September 1910 – 17 February 2007) was a French civil servant during the 1930s and leading the police in major prefectures and in Paris during the Nazi occupation of France and into the 1960s.
Forced to resign because of allegations of abuses, he became an industrial leader and Gaullist politician. In 1998 he was convicted of crimes against humanity for his participation in the deportation of more than 1600 Jews to concentration camps during World War II when he was secretary general for police in Bordeaux.
Papon was known to have tortured insurgent prisoners (1954–62) as prefect of the Constantinois department during the Algerian War. He was named chief of the Paris police in 1958. On October 17, 1961 he ordered the severe repression of a pro-National Liberation Front (FLN) demonstration against a curfew which he had imposed. What became known as the Paris massacre of 1961 left between one hundred and three hundred dead at the hands of the police, with many others wounded. That same year, Papon was personally awarded the Legion of Honour by French President Charles de Gaulle, whose government was struggling to retain Algeria as a French colony.
Papon was in charge of the Paris police during the February 1962 massacre at the Charonne metro station, which took place during an anti-Organisation armée secrète (OAS) demonstration organized by the Communist Party (PCF).
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