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View submission: Were non-French civilians actively persecuted in Nazi-occupied France?
Thank you! I will read more into Lucien Dumais. I do have another question in regards to Japanese immigrants to Paris, France before WWII. In your knowledge, were they persecuted due to their appearances? While there are civilian internment camps, since Japan was an ally to Germany, do you know if they had preferential treatment in any way in Nazi-occupied France?
Comment by gerardmenfin at 20/01/2025 at 00:02 UTC*
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There were no Japanese immigrants in France. The article from 1942 that I cited[1] says that there were about 1000 Japanese people in France in the 1930s, and about 150 in 1942. We can assume that most had gone home after the declaration of war in September 1939, like the painter Foujita (himself a supporter of the imperial regime).
1: https://www.retronews.fr/journal/les-ondes/1-mars-1942/4556/5622856/12
Note that the article uses the term "Japanese colony" to describe this little community. A "colony", in this context, was a group of socially valued foreigners: diplomats, businessmen, artists, writers, chefs, students etc. A well-known figure of the colony was for instance the millionaire and art patron Jirohachi Satsuma.
We cannot rule out that at some point a Japanese person in France faced some racist remarks, or was mistaken for a colonial subject (ie a native of the actual French colonies overseas) and treated rudely by an idiot, but by far and large the French did not mistreat, let alone persecute, Asian people at home (that would be different in the colonies), and certainly not wealthy-looking ones.
Since France was not at war with Japan in 1939, the remaining Japanese people in France had nothing to worry about except the war itself. After June 1940, Japan became an ally of Vichy France and let the French rule Indochina until March 1945. I don't know if this handful of Japanese got a special status, but again the main concerns for a regular Japanese person (not a diplomat or an official) would have been the wartime ones in France, ie getting food, fuel, etc.
In addition to actor Sessue Hayakawa, one particularly active Japanese man in wartime France was the legendary judo master Mikinosuke Kawaishi[2], seen here training French judokas in 1942[3]. Kawaishi returned to Japan in 1943 or 1944 but was soon back in France after the war. If you have a Japanese person walking around in wartime France he/she should be in contact with the few other members of the "colony".
2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikinosuke_Kawaishi
3: https://www.retronews.fr/journal/le-matin/2-decembre-1942/66/182457/2