France capitulates
In 1939, when France declared war on Germany after the latter invaded Poland, what would be called the "phony war" took place. Unlike in 1914, soldiers are not sent to fight. It was the following year, on June 17, 1940, that Philippe Pétain, renowned marshal of the Great War, announced the collaboration with Germany supposedly to save the country. France is then invaded; first the northern zone, renamed the occupied zone until November 11, 1943, then the whole country. But that does not mean that the Gestapo is in charge of all the maneuvers. Of particular note is the Vel d'Hiv roundup, organized and executed by the French police on July 16 and 17, 1942.
The French Forces of the Interior
During this time, the French Resistance of the Interior works. June 18, 1940 marks the beginning of the Resistance with General de Gaulle's appeal from London, in which he invites the French to resist the occupier, because "France has lost a battle, but France has not lost the war. Networks of resistance are flourishing, especially in the big cities. Lyon has Jean Moulin, General de Gaulle's representative in France. Networks like Combat and Armée Secrète operate clandestinely:they derail trains, assassinate German soldiers, free prisoners, etc. The French Communist Party, banned by the Germans, also rebels.
The French militia
If the Vichy regime disapproved of acts described as "terrorist" by the Gestapo, it was especially when the STO (Service de Travail Obligatoire) was set up, which plans to send all young French people between the ages of twenty and twenty-two years in Germany to lend a hand to the Occupier, which the Resistance redoubled. Indeed, most of these young men decided to join the maquis on February 16, 1943 and went into hiding. It is them that the militia, born the same year, will track until the Liberation. The militiamen executed the resistance fighters, obeyed the orders of the Gestapo, and ostensibly betrayed the fatherland to better please Nazi Germany, which had been triumphant until then.