(1891--1972), Coordinator of Jewish affairs in France'S Vichy government during 1941 and 1942. Vallat was first elected to France's parliament in 1919. His ideology was strongly influenced by Action Francaise, the radical, nationalist, right-wing, antisemitic movement, and he often attacked Jews in parliament.
In March 1941 Marshal Philippe Petain, the head of the Vichy government, named Vallat director of the government's Office for Jewish Affairs. In this capacity, Vallat was responsible to institute and carry out France's Anti-Jewish Legislation. In late 1941 he created the Union of French Jews, on the initiative of Adolf Eichmann'S representative, Theodor Dannecker. However, despite the fact that Vallat fully believed in the need to exclude Jews from French society, he did not want to be subservient to the Nazis nor further a program that would bolster the German economy. He refused to carry out the Germans' more extreme requests such as the Deportation of Jews. In May 1942 the Germans stripped Vallat of his position, because they considered him too moderate. After the war, Vallat was sentenced to 10 years in jail, but was released after two. (For more on Vichy, see also France.)
