Mass arrests of Jews instigated by the Germans began in May of 1941. In August, roughly 4,000 Jews were seized and sent to a camp called Drancy (it was originally used by the government to intern communists after the Nazi- Soviet pact, and later used by the Germans for British prisoners of war (France and the French 264)). In most cases Drancy was the last stop in France before extermination (Verdict on Vichy 151). It was a Vichy decree that working together with the Germans should not lessen the area of independent French activity. Pierre Laval, a well known French political figure, found a way to lessen such an issue would be to anticipate German demands and suggest a specifically "French- way of handling said demands. There were some orders that the French did not comply with, such as all Jews should wear a yellow star. However, to counter that demand, Vichy required all Jews to have "Jew- stamped on their I.Ds. "In the winter of 1941-42, Vichy's autonomous legalism, discrimination, and internment had been overtaken by the secret Nazi decision to eliminate the Jews. Vichy was not informed The Germans hid their intentions behind the cynical fable of providing work and settlement in the east, to which Jews would be transported by rail."" (France and the French 265) The Vichy police handled it as another opportunity to empty the camps of foreign Jews. Rene Bousquet, the Vichy police chief (Verdict on Vichy) , had given Laval the information on all of the deportations following a meeting with Karl Oberg, head of the German police units in France (Verdict on Vichy). Bousquet, however, had his own plan "to extract from Oberg a greater degree of independent activity for the French police."" (France and the French 265) In an attempt to "flex- the Vichy's muscles, Bousquet authorized and organized a mass round-up of foreign Jews in Paris. .
On July 16 and 17, 1942, 9,000 French police officials arrested 12,884 Jews (The Unfree French 142).
