As part of the armistice agreement France signed with Germany on June 22, France was divided into occupied and unoccupied zones. Germany occupied northern France and all of France's Atlantic coastline down to the border with Spain.
A new French government was established in Vichy in the unoccupied southern part of the country. The Vichy government declared neutrality, but it was committed by the armistice provisions to cooperation with Germany.
Vichy administrators promulgated antisemitic legislation, “Aryanized” Jewish property, interned thousands, and periodically rounded up thousands of foreign and French Jews to transport to transit camps and, later, usually to Auschwitz, where most were murdered.
After the German invasion of France in 1940, Marshal Pétain became the head of the Government.
After The War
At the end of Pétain's trial, which took place from 23 July to 15 August 1945 and was held under the auspices of provisional government headed by De Gaulle, he was convicted on all charges.
The jury sentenced him to death by a one-vote majority. Due to his advanced age, the Court asked that the sentence not be carried out. De Gaulle, who was President of the Provisional Government of the French Republic at the end of the war, commuted the sentence to life imprisonment due to Pétain's age and his military contributions in World War I. After his conviction, the Court stripped Pétain of all military ranks and honours save for the one distinction of Marshal of France.
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