Milice

The Milice française (French pronunciation: [milis fʁɑ̃sɛz], 'French Militia'), generally called la Milice ([la milis], 'The Militia'), was a political paramilitary organization created on 30 January 1943 by the Vichy régime (with German aid) to help fight against the French Resistance during World War II. The Milice's formal head was Vichy France's Prime Minister Pierre Laval (in office 1942 to 1944), although its chief of operations and de facto leader was Secretary General Joseph Darnand. The Milice participated in summary executions and assassinations, helping to round up Jews and résistants in France for deportation. It was the successor to Darnand's Service d'ordre légionnaire (SOL) militia (founded in 1941). The Milice was the Vichy régime's most extreme manifestation of fascism. Ultimately, Darnand envisaged the Milice as a fascist single-party political movement for Vichy France. Milice members frequently used torture to extract information or confessions from those whom they interrogated. The French Resistance considered the Milice more dangerous than the Gestapo or SS because its staff were native Frenchmen who understood local dialects fluently, had extensive knowledge of the towns and countryside, and knew local people and informants.