Pierre Henry Rix, from Pétain's Sub-Prefect to de Gaulle's Prefect
History and Memory of a Prefectural Career during World War II
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Abstract
The history of sub-prefects under the Vichy regime remains to be written. What were the realities of their activities during this period? What history did they recount after the Liberation? What memory did they keep of those dark times? These are the questions that this article will answer by focusing on Pierre Henry Rix, a sub-prefect still renowned in Corsica for his leading role in the rescue of Jews. While shedding light on the skills required to climb the ladder of the prefectural career before, during and after the World War II, the article seeks to better understand how a Vichy sub-prefect, involved in the Gaullist Resistance and little concerned by the fate of the Jews, belatedly refashioned himself as a rescuer of Jews.
Contributor Notes
Edenz Maurice is editorial researcher in the department of history of the prefectural corps at the Institut des hautes études du ministère de l'Intérieur (IHEMI, Institute of Advanced Studies of the Interior Ministry). A specialist on state history, colonial, and post-colonial relations in French overseas, he is the editor of Préfets et préfètes aux outre-mer depuis 1947 (La Documentation française, 2023) and the author of Guyane, la promesse républicaine: Faire France outre-mer 1920–1980 (Les Indes savants, 2022).