Wandering around the narrow lanes of La Panier in the warm Spring sunshine, admiring the street art and stopping for a drink in the pretty Place de Lenche, it is difficult to imagine that this was the scene of one of the greatest outrages of WWII France.
Le Panier, the oldest part of Marseilles, once had a fearsome reputation as a haunt of criminals, prostitutes and drug addicts. In fact it was a crowded working class district directly beside the port and the first place of refuge for immigrants to the city. Le Panier has now become a popular tourist area, the Montmartre of Marseille as some claim. The streets and alleys have been tidied up, cafes and artisan shops have opened and the criminals, prostitutes and drug addicts seem to have found somewhere else to go. Despite all this, the area is still predominantly residential and retains its working class credentials.
However, most visitors are unaware of the dark history of this place. The observant may wonder why the dense network of streets and alleys is limited to the upper slopes of the three hills that make up the district. The lower slopes around the port are built in a spacious post war style.
The German occupying forces had long feared the mythical outlaw status of Le Panier and found its narrow alleys and confusing layout offensive to its sense of order and difficult to police. They were convinced the area was harbouring Jews, refugees and resistance fighters and were determined to clear it out. On 22 January 1943, the area was surrounded by 12,000 French police assisted by German SS. Every house was searched and 40,000 people questioned, of which 6,000 including 2000 Jews were arrested and deported, most never to be heard of again. The Germans then carefully laid charges and dynamited every single building within the area. Why they stopped at the lower town is something of a mystery.
The clearance of Le Panier is considered one of the worst WWII outrages in France. However, for long the full extent of the French police involvement was concealed. Rene Bousquet, the head of the French Police at the time, took personal charge of the operation and was zealous in its implementation. He was arrested after the war, as were all Vichy government ministers, but managed to muddy the waters over his involvement in Le Panier’s destruction to the extent that he was never charged with the outrage. He was sentenced in 1949 to a statutory 5 years in prison for membership of the Vichy government, later commuted.
There then followed a long period when official French government policy was to draw a blanket over the reality of Vichy France’s wartime activities. Bousquet became a successful businessman and re-entered politics as a close supporter and associate of Francois Mitterand. However, not all were so complacent and persistent investigation led to a complaint being lodged against him in 1989 by three Jewish and Resistance Groups for crimes against humanity. Despite continuing government prevarication, he was eventually charged in 1991. Before he could reach trial he was assassinated by Christian Didier who had dedicated himself to avenging the French victims of Vichy. Didier, himself was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The leniency of the sentence reflecting his defence that he was merely avenging a historic wrong.
Le Panier now is a quiet, welcoming sort of place. On a sunny Mediterranean morning it is a pleasant place to stroll, close to the museums of the revitalized port and the Cathedral and just a short walk from the bustling commercial heart of this great port city. Few visitors would have reason to know of its dark history.
