Jacques de Bernonville | |
|---|---|
 de Bernonville in 1938 | |
| Born | (1897-12-20)20 December 1897 Paris, France |
| Died | 26 April 1972(1972-04-26) (aged 74) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Cause of death | Murder by asphyxiation |
| Organization | Milice |
| Political party | Action Française |
CountJacques Charles Noel Dugé de Bernonville (20 December 1897 – 26 April 1972) was a Frenchcollaborationist and senior police officer in theMilice of theVichy regime in France. He was known to hunt down and executeresistance fighters duringWorld War II, as well as for his participation inantisemitic programs, including the deportation ofFrench Jews toDrancy andextermination camps. After his escape from France, he was convicted in absentia of war crimes and sentenced to death.
He was aided in enteringQuebec, Canada in 1946 by leading Catholics of the province. In 1948, his true identity was discovered by immigration officials, who instituted deportation proceedings. De Bernonville fled toRio de Janeiro,Brazil, where he lived for the rest of his life. In 1957, theSupreme Court of Brazil refused to approve an extradition order. He was murdered by asphyxiation in 1972 by his servant's son.[1]
Count Jacques Dugé de Bernonville was born inParis to an aristocratic family and educated inJesuit schools. He became aligned with reactionary political groups.
In 1938, he was imprisoned for several months, charged with having taken part in the conspiracy ofLa Cagoule, afar rightterrorist group. He was released because of lack of proof.
Following the 1940defeat of France againstNazi Germany, Jacques de Bernonville joined the Vichy government. In 1943 he was appointed as a commander of the collaborationist Milice, the Vichy police. Working in conjunction with the head of the MiliceJoseph Darnand, de Bernonville hunted down members of theFrench Resistance. They were almost always summarily executed.
As a right-hand man toKlaus Barbie (later convicted forcrimes against humanity), de Bernonville participated in the establishment and enforcement of the Vichy regime's program ofantisemitic policies. They carried out the deportation of thousands of French Jews, refugee Jews and other "undesirables" to theDrancy deportation camp en route toAuschwitz and other Germanextermination camps.
After theliberation of France by theAllied Forces and theFrench Resistance, de Bernonville was charged first, by theDijon special tribunal, with endangering the safety of the State in 1946 and, second, in 1947, oftreason by theToulouse "cour de justice". Found guilty and condemned to death, he fled the country. It is noteworthy that those tribunals were exceptional jurisdictions set up during the "Epuration" to "purge" all organs of state and civil society of those suspected of, or guilty ofcollaboration with the German occupiers.
Escaping French authorities in 1946, Count de Bernonville sailed to New York City. According to Kevin Henley, professor of history atCollège de Maisonneuve in Montreal, the politically powerfulRoman Catholic priestLionel Groulx helped Count de Bernonville get into Quebec and established a new identity as Jacques Benoit.[2] He was welcomed by a significant number of theQuebec nationalist elite, but in 1948, Canadian immigration authorities discovered his identity and instituted deportation proceedings. In an attempt to keep Count de Bernonville in Canada, 143 Quebec notables signed a 1950 petition defending him and stating that he should be allowed to stay.[3] Signers included the secretary general of theUniversité de Montréal;Camillien Houde, mayor of the city ofMontreal; plusCamille Laurin andDenis Lazure, two future cabinet ministers in theParti Québécois government.
Faced with a deportation order, Count de Bernonville fled again, going toRio de Janeiro,Brazil. In 1954 the French government was advised of his location but, since Brazil had noextradition treaty with France, he escaped punishment. TheSupreme Court of Brazil refused to extradite him in October 1957. Count de Bernonville remained in Brazil. He died in 1972, murdered by the son of his servant, who was drunk and high onhashish.[4]
