Word: darnand
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...Killer. The Germans put Darnand in power. Late last December, old Marshal Pétain first resisted, then gave in to a Nazi demand that he revamp his government, throw out many of his closest advisers, replace them with stronger men who would not be squeamish about suppressing underground resistance. One of the new appointees was Joseph Darnand, a former carpenter who received full power over French police, gendarmerie, secret service, militia, and the private armies of ultra-collaborationists like Marcel Déat and Jacques Doriot. Also, in the event of Puppet Pierre Laval's absence (which...
...potent figure emerged in German Europe (and, according to Moscow, got shot in the arm last week). The new man of power: 46-year-old, heavy-jawed Joseph Darnand, an experienced terrorist who now commands all police and military guards in France, dominates Vichy...
...Darnand was a sergeant in World War I, a lieutenant in World War II, was highly decorated in both. He formed his own Fascist outfit, the Chevaliers du Glaive, in the '30s became prominent among the Cagoulards ("Hooded Men") a secret terrorist group which organized bombings and assassinations, stored arms depots all over France. Darnand was prosecuted for complicity in the murder of a business associate, for being too close to the Duce's intelligence service, for bad checks issued in his name by his mistress...