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Marshal Henri Philippe Petain
In the spring of 1942, Ruth went to a parade in honor of Marshal Petain,France's chief of state. Under his dictatorship, he ruled over portions of France that were not fully under German control. Eventually, Marshal Petain, as he was commonly called, collaborated with Adolf Hitler and created a Fascist-goverment which appointed all government officials, controlled the press, practiced arbitrary arrests, and passed anti-semitic laws which swept southern France clean of any known Jews. -
Carte D'identite
Fearing for their life, many Jew's got false identification cards or carte d'identite in French. Their new identification cards gave them French names so it would be unlikely for the Gestapo or French police to think they were otherwise. Ruth's new name was changed to Renee Caper on August 18, 1943. Although the display picture is not Ruth's, this is what a common identification card looked like. -
German Invasion in Southern France
Remembering back to the story, on November 16, 1943, the French Milice interrograted Renee on the where abouts of her father. During this period of time in France, many foreign Jewish men were taken from their families and transferred to German concentration camps by the French Milice (police). Renee's father, luckily, kept himself hidden very well that day! -
Hiding in the Convent
Desperate for a safe place, some Jewish children were sent to Catholic Convents and seperated from their parents. They were given Christian names in order to hide their Jewish identies. Renee was one of these fortunate children. She was in hiding from the fall of 1943 until liberation in 1944. -
Liberation! France is Free!
June 6, 1944 is most notably known as "D-Day." Western Allies began invading the beaches of Normandy, France in order to put an end to the Nazi forces. The southern zone in which Renee was at, was liberated a month later on August 15, 1944. Many Jewish families, including Renee's, were able to finally live a little more openly and freely! Revenge took place shortly after as the picture depicts a denouncer being punished; many were murdered after liberation.
