(also known as Louis Darquier; 1897--1980), Coordinator of the Vichy government's anti-Jewish program from 1942--1944.
Darquier was an infamous and devout antisemite who believed that all Jews should either be kicked out of France or exterminated. In May 1942 he was appointed to head the Vichy government's Office for Jewish Affairs. He replaced Xavier Vallat in that position, who had been removed because the SS in France had considered Vallat to be too moderate in his views and actions.
Darquier persecuted French Jewry in a brutal and violent fashion. In conjunction with the German authorities in Paris, he accelerated the confiscation of Jewish property and helped coordinate the Deportation of French Jews to Auschwitz. However, the Germans soon found that Darquier's administration was inefficient, incompetent, and corrupt. Thus, he was also removed from his position in February 1944.
After the war, Darquier fled to Spain, where he lived until his death in 1980. In 1978 he was interviewed in his home by a French reporter. During the interview Darquier denied any involvement in the persecution of France's Jews during the Holocaust, and even denied that the Holocaust ever took place.
