Friday January 22, 1943 in the morning start in Marseilles of great police operations which are prolonged during one week. Considerable forces were concentrated for this purpose by the French authorities in the city phocéenne: more than one thousand of inspectors come from the Southern zone, but also of Paris, and approximately eight thousand men in behaviour (gendarmes, guards mobile, GMR). Stoppings filter the passers by, check the identities, stop " suspect " and Jewish. During the night from the 22 to January 23 raids and house searches multiply: 1865 people are stopped and led to Baumettes *.
*Marseilles Prison
The operations continue saturdays all the day. The evening, the district of the port is looped by the German troops. It is more particularly in this district than the French forces stop during the night 635 more people also gathered in Baumettes. To the first hours of Sunday 24, approximately 1300 prisoners of Baumettes are led in the trucks to the guard of Arenc. A railway convoy is formed, supplemented by approximately 300 people raflées in the night and supplies of Évêché. Thus, 1642 prisoners (of which the half are Jewish) leave for Compiegne. Police controls and the arrests continue until Thursday January 28 in the center and various districts of the city. Whereas the first convoy of Marseillais raflés share the station of Arenc, the inhabitants of the Northern district of the Old man-Port, half-compartment of the remainder of the city since the day before by the German troops, are evacuated as of Sunday morning towards Fréjus by the station of Arenc. These operations mobilize 12 000 French police officers, 5 000 soldiers of the 10th regiment of font SS controlled by colonel Griese. The young people of the Defence civil were necessary (...). the French authorities obtained that the operation is led by them, but Oberg is on the spot and supervises Colonel Griese. (Approximately 20 000 people are evacuated). From Frejus, the Germans, who control the camps completely, organize Monday February 1 a convoy of 800 people approximately towards Compiegne, via the station of Arenc. This convoy, of which it is difficult to evaluate the composition, included/understood especially men of all the ages, whose majority had their occupations in Marseilles and had never drawn the attention of the services of font for their political activity. According to the testimony of the Hirschler chief rabbi, a certain number of Jews are in the convoy. The first convoy bringing back evacuated Old man-Port to Marseilles arrives on January 28 in station of Arenc. The operations of recovery start, but much residences are plundered. As from February 1, the Germans dynamite the district; 14 ha are destroyed, like nearly 2 000 buildings. In Compiegne, the French authorities intervene to obtain that certain cases are reconsidered and after constitution of a commission of sifting, 42 people are released. But the majority of the prisoners coming from Marseilles are off-set. From the camp of Royallieu, March 10, 1943, 786 Jews stopped in Marseilles (from which 570 of French nationality) are conveyed via Drancy towards the death camps of Sobibor and Auschwitz from which nobody returned (convoys 52 and 53 of March the 23, and 25 1943). A quota of deportees of the Old man-Port is placed at the disposal of the Todt organization and is interned in the îles.anglo-Normans where fortifications are built. Six hundred others take the path of Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen where they arrive on 30 April constituting the majority of the convoy which will be registered in the numbers 64 000. Some were also off-set in Mauthausen and Buchenwald.
ASSESSMENT
Thus, in the fifteen days space, Marseilles lived a true seïsm: tens of thousands of controls in a squared city by, the thousand police force of driven out inhabitants their residences, thousands of arrests. The assessment established by the regional prefect on January 30, 1942 fact state of 400 000 identity checks, 5 956 apprehended people, 3 977 released after checks, 30 écrouées 13 directed towards 294 interned 1642, abroad, the center, sent in Compiegne; of 600 suspects or dangerous retained by the commissions of ciblage of Frejus. 800 bars were temporarily closed.
THE GREAT RAID OF MARSEILLES
January 14 1943. two months after the arrival of the German army in Marseilles, the General Karl OBERG, head of the German font declared in front of the French authorities :
"Marseilles is a den of international gangsters. This city is the canker of Europe. And Europe cannot live as long as Marseilles will not be purified. The attacks of January 3 when soldiers of Large Reich found death of it are the proof. This is why the German authority wants to clean of all undesirable the " old workings " and to destroy them by the mine and fire"
Were present : BOUSQUET: secretary-general with the font of Vichy LEMOINE : Regional prefect BARRAUD: deputy prefect of the administration of the city CHOPIN: Prefect of the mouths of the Rhone RODELLE DE PORZIC : Intendant of the font
Marseilles was invested by impressive police force. Friday January 22 all was ready and the great raid of Marseilles started.
It was, after that of Vel of hiv in Paris, one of the greatest raids of the occupation. At the time of the general raid on all the districts of the center of Marseilles 40000 people were controlled and among them 5956 people were stopped; 1642 are sent to the prison of Baumettes, including 782 Jews conveyed as of January 24 in the morning with the camp of Compiegne. None returned from the death camp of Sobibor to Poland.
