The Nazis chose their tool well.
A newly discovered document proves that Philippe Petain, the infamous leader who set up the puppet Vichy regime, in fact spearheaded the persecution between 1940 and 1944.
Petain had always claimed that he opposed the deportation of Jews to concentration camps, and in fact tried to do everything he could to stop it.
But a handwritten note from Petain in fact proves that he complained that his fellow countrymen were not doing enough to attack Jews during World War Two.
The original Statue on Jews, discriminatory laws passed by the French collaborators, read that 'descendants of Jews born in France or naturalised before 1860' would be spared internment.
But Petain crossed out the exemption clause and even suggested that Jews should be banned from becoming lawyers or teachers.
