Joseph Darnand

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Joseph Darnand
Paris, France
Cause of deathExecution by firing squad
Allegiance France
(1916–1940)
 Vichy France (1940–1944)
 Nazi Germany (1943–1945)
Service/branch Schutzstaffel
Years of service1916–1918
1919–1921
1939–1945
Rank SS-Sturmbannführer (Major)
Battles/warsWorld War I
Franco-Turkish War
World War II
Awards
  • Officer of the Legion of Honour (May 1940) (Knight: 7 April 1927)
  • Military Medal (23 July 1918)
  • Cross of War 1914–1918 (6 citations, 2 at army level)
  • Belgian Cross of War 1914–1918
  • Cross of War 1939–1945
RelationsAntoinette Foucachon (1899–1994; spouse)
Jean-Philippe Darnand (1926-2008; son)

Joseph Darnand (19 March 1897 – 10 October 1945) was a French collaborator with Nazi Germany during World War II. A decorated soldier in the French Army of World War I and early World War II, he went on to become the organizer and de facto leader of the Milice française, or French Militia, the collaborationist Vichy government's paramilitary police force. Darnand also served as an officer in the Waffen-SS. He was tried and executed after the war for treason.

Early years and war service

Darnand was born at Coligny, Ain, Rhône-Alpes in France.

On 8 January 1916, he enlisted in the 35th Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to corporal in April 1917, sergeant on 1 June 1917 and to adjutant (warrant officer) in 1918. He volunteered for a squadron that undertook dangerous missions. For his efforts in July 1918 penetrating German lines in the Champagne sector with a small force that captured prisoners and secured information about a forthcoming German offensive, "Darnand emerged a major war hero."[1]

Demobilised after the armistice, he again enlisted for two years in the army in September 1919. After a stint in the army of occupation in Germany, he participated in the campaign against the forces of Kemal Atatürk in Cilicia. He ended his service in July 1921 as a sub-lieutenant (second lieutenant). He worked as a cabinetmaker and later founded his own transportation company in Nice.

Between the wars, Darnand joined a number of far-right political, paramilitary organizations: l'Action Française in 1925, the Croix-de-Feu in 1928, La Cagoule and Jacques Doriot's French Popular Party (PPF) in 1936.[2] He formed his own Fascist outfit, the Chevaliers du Glaive (Knights of the Sword); in the 1930s he became prominent among La Cagoule, or the Cagoulards ("Hooded Men"), a secret terrorist group that organised bombings and assassinations, and that stored arms in depots all over France.[3]

Vichy collaborator

At the beginning of World War II, Darnand volunteered to join the French Army and was commissioned as a lieutenant. He served in the Maginot Line and was decorated for bravery. During the Phoney War he took part in several commando actions against German forces. He was captured in June 1940 but fled to Nice. He became a leading figure in the Vichy French organization Légion française des combattants (French Legion of Veterans) and recruited troopers for the fight against "Bolshevism".

In 1941, Darnard was made a member of the National Council of

collaborationist militia, Service d'ordre légionnaire (SOL), that supported Philippe Pétain and Vichy France. He offered his help against the French Resistance. On 1 January 1943 he transformed the organization into the Milice. Although Pierre Laval was its official president, Darnand was its de facto leader. Darnand's political convictions were of the far right but he was known as a Germanophobe. Nonetheless, his views toward Nazi Germany changed. By the spring of 1941 he had told a friend that "France had been wrong to fight Germany in 1939" and Germany's assault on the Soviet Union in June of that year "reinforced Darnand's evolution toward collaboration."[4]

SS officer

Darnand turned to Nazi Germany and was made an officer of the SS. Darnand's turn to the SS was also influenced by the fact that miliciens were being targeted for assassination by the Resistance but Vichy and Wehrmacht authorities refused to arm the Milice.[5]

In joining the SS, Darnand took a personal oath of loyalty to

puppet government in the Sigmaringen enclave. He received a promotion to Sturmbannführer
on 1 November 1944.

Capture, trial and execution

Darnand's grave in Batignolles Cemetery (Paris).

In April 1945, he fled from Sigmaringen to

Fort de Châtillon in Paris.[9] Like some other collaboration leaders, Darnand had been found guilty of collaboration with the enemy.[10]

References