College and Research Libraries By J O S E M E Y E R Government Publications French Official Publications in the Second World War Miss Meyer of the Descriptive Cataloging Division of the Library of Congress, has been the representative of the Library of Congress in France until her recent re- turn to this country. When war began in September 1939 there was an initial period of complete disruption of all normal activity, both public and private. This was due to two major reasons: the contingencies of the general mobilization to which everything else became subordinate and the generally held belief that military operations would begin with an all-out air attack against Paris and the larger cities of France. W h a t appeared to the uninitiated observer as a state of utter confusion proved to be the execution of a minutely established plan, details of which were laid down in the form of a law as early as July 11, 1938. There were several editions of this document including the original issue in the Journal officiel, also separately printed. In September 1939 it was widely distributed as: Presidence du Conseil. Organisation generale de la Nation pour le Temps de Guerre. Documents officiels au Jour au ier juin 1939. Paris, Berger-Levrault, I939- A f t e r several weeks of suspended ac- tivity in all matters but the business of war, the government departments, learned institutions, and educational establish- ments resumed their regular routine with but few changes. T h e Journal officiel and various govern- ment publications continued on the whole as previously, although sometimes with more delay than usual. One immediate result of the state of war was the suspension of the sale and distribution of all maps and publications of the Service geographique de l'Armee and of the Service hydrographique de la Marine. On the other hand, after a few months the Geographical Service began what was to be a pictorial record of the war for popular distribution but which never got beyond the first number.1 T h e international exchange of learned societies and government publications was interrupted not so much on account of the war as for lack of funds. However, in December 1939 a small sum was made available by the Ministry of Education which enabled the Exchange Service to ship publications accumulated since May l939 to their various destinations. In this connection it may be stated that work on the Inventory of French Official Publications2 which was begun in 1937, has continued without interruption under the auspices of the Commission des Publi- 1 S e r v i c e g e o g r a p h i q u e de l ' A r m e e . Memorial de la Guerre. N o . i , j a n v i e r 1940. P a r i s , S e c t i o n p h o t o g r a p h i q u e et c i n e m a t o g r a p h i q u e de l ' A r m e e [ 1 9 4 0 ] . 2 M i n i s t e r e de l ' E d u c a t i o n n a t i o n a l e . Inventaire general des Publications officielles. P r e m i e r e s e r i e : Institutions generates de I'Etat. t. i e r : Publications administratives et techniques. 1937-38. P a r i s , L i b r a i r i e B e r g e r - L e v r a u l t , 1940. 82 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES cations Administratives and the Biblio- theque Nationale. T h e former was es- tablished by decree of August 6, 1937. Funds for the undertaking were made available by Parliament in 1938. In De- cember 1940, six months after the German occupation, the first volume was in press. Examination of the page proof of the opening section shows that the approach is both historical and legal. T h e intro- duction includes the history of the project, the text of the legislative acts bearing on French government publications, an out- line of the plan of the inventory and defi- nitions of what constitutes official and semiofficial publications. T h i s is followed by the list of parliamentary publications, with a lucid expose of parliamentary pro- cedure as regards official acts. T h e ad- ministrative and technical publications of the executive departments of the central government are similarly treated. Part 2 will cover publications of learned bodies, also maps and charts; Part 3, departmental and municipal publications; Part 4, pub- lications of the colonies and protectorates. New Publications In the early stages of the war a number of new publications were undertaken. Outstanding among these is the Bulletin analytiquez issued by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, which em- bodies abstracts from French and foreign scientific publications. Plans for this en- terprise, which was of vital importance for national defense, were made soon after the outbreak of war, coincident with the reorganization of the Centre de la Re- cherche Scientifique (decree of October 3 M i n i s t e r e de l ' E d u c a t i o n n a t i o n a l e . C e n t r e de la R e c h e r c h e s c i e n t i f i q u e . Bulletin analytique. V o l . 1, N o . 1/6-, j a n v i e r - m a r s 1 9 4 0 — P a r i s , S e r v i c e de D o c u m e n t a t i o n d u C . N . R . S . ; H e r m a n n & C i e , 1940- . 19> I 9 3 9 ) - T h e first number marked 1/6 and dated January-March 1940 in- cluded digests for the period September 1939 to March 1940. Although the bulletin was originally planned as a semi- monthly, the following issue was again a double number, 7/8, dated April 1940. Number 9 appeared on M a y 15. T h e bulletin was temporarily suspended at the time of the German advance, but Pierre Auger, the editor, was back at his post in Paris in October 1940, hopeful of being able to resume work on the publication, although with obvious limitations. T h e Ministere de l A r m e m e n t was created by decree of September 20, 1939. It was headed by Raoul Dautry, formerly director of the Chemin de Fer de l'Etat. A l l of its publications, chiefly in mimeo- graph form, were of a confidential nature with the exception of a small series of which only two numbers appeared before the occupation, others being in press at the time: Ministere de l'Armement. Guide du Fournisseur du Ministere de l'Armement. octobre 1939. . Votre Main-d'oeuvre. Guide No. 2 du fournisseur. [1940?] T h e mass shifting of populations from Alsace-Lorraine in the immediate zone of war operations to the central departments was responsible for the bilingual weekly De I'Est a I'OuestThis was published by the prefect of Charente-Inferieure in French and German as a sort of first aid and liaison bulletin for bewildered Alsace and Lorraine families uprooted from their homes without warning and frequently torn apart in the confusion. 4 P r e f e c t u r e de la C h a r e n t e - I n f e r i e u r e . S e c r e t a r i a t g e n e r a l . De I Est a I'Ouest. Bulletin de Renseiyne- ments pour les ivacues. Auskunftssettel fur Eva- kuiertc. N o s . 1-36. 3 o c t o b r e 1939-5 j u i n 1940. 36 nos. F r e n c h a n d G e r m a n . DECEMBER., 1941 83 Establishment of Censorship One of the usual effects of war is the establishment of censorship for the printed, written, and spoken word on the one hand, and of an official propaganda service on the other, so as to keep public opinion in the desired channels. Provi- sions for this were made in the law of July I I , 1938, referred to above. T h e r e it was stipulated that "a general informa- tion service for the dissemination of all data useful in the interests of the nation" was to be set up even before a state of war existed. T h u s the Commissariat General a l'Information, established by decree of July 29, 1939, and further organized by the decrees of September 1 and 15, 1939, came into existence. It consisted origi- nally of five sections, four of which are of interest to librarians as publishing agen- cies : 2 e Division, Service de la Docu- mentation ; 3® Division, Service de l'Information a l'lnterieur et aux Col- onies; 4e Division, Service de l'Informa- tion a l ' E t r a n g e r ; 5e Division, Service de Presse et de la Censure. Information and Propaganda Services T h e economic information and propa- ganda services, which until then had been under the Presidence du Conseil, the serv- ice for the control of cinematographic films of the Ministry of Education, and the news and propaganda services of the national broadcasting organization, as well as the control of private broadcasting ordinarily under the Ministere des Postes, Telegraphe, et Telephone, were all trans- ferred to the new Commissariat. Finally, by decree of November 18, 1939, the Service d'Information et de Presse of the Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres was placed under the authority of the Com- missariat, to which the Service des Oeuvres Frangaises a l'Etranger, the cul- tural relations section of the Quai d'Orsay, had already been transferred. As a result, the Bulletin quotidien de Presse etrangere and the various press re- view bulletins for individual countries issued since 1916 by the Ministry of For- eign Affairs were being compiled from January 12, 1940, by the Commissariat General a l'Information and from April 1, 1940, by the Ministere de l'Informa- tion.5 T h e last issued include: Bulletin quotidien de Presse etrangere, 8 juin 1940, No. 7444. Ironically, this last number contains noth- ing but a translation of M r . Churchill's speech of June 4, 1940, in the House of Commons. Bulletin periodique de la Presse alle- mande . . . 23-25 mai 1940, No. 509. Id. . . . Presse anglaise . . . 9-11 mai 1940, No. 419 Id. . . . Presse italienne 1-2 mai 1940, No. 349 Id. . . . Presse japonaise 16-18 mai 1940, No. 82 Id. . . . Presse russe 18-20 avril 1940, No. 294 Id. . . . Presse sudamericaine . . . 15-17 avril 1940, No. 224. Id. . . . Presse americaine 28-30 mars 1940, No. 359 Id. . . . Presse yougoslave 14-16 mars 1940, No. 134 Others were discontinued early in the w a r ; thus, the Belgian (28-30 septembre 1939, N o . 1 3 3 ) , the Roumanian (21-23 decembre 1939, No. 150), the Swiss (16- 18 octobre 1939, No. 2 7 2 ) , while the Polish bulletin stopped on the eve of w a r (24-26 aout 1939, No. 2 7 2 ) . It is impossible at the present time to give anything but the most superficial 6 I n M a r c h 1940, f o l l o w i n g widespread criticism of the Commissariat and its head, J e a n G i r a u d o u x , the p l a y w r i g h t and poet, the d e p a r t m e n t w a s r e o r g a n i z e d as a m i n i s t r y w i t h L u d o v i c - O s c a r F r o s s a r d as minis- ter. 84 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES account of the publications of the Com- missariat and Ministry of Information up to the time of the downfall of France. Its printed and mimeographed material was held to be strictly confidential with the exception of the various press releases and propaganda publications. W i t h i n the department conditions similar to those in most French ministries prevailed, but in this instance they were aggravated by war psychology and fear of espionage. T h e result was a lack of coordination between the various divisions and bureaux of the department, each one producing bulletins, leaflets, pamphlets, or books of which the others knew little or nothing. Greatest Number T h e second and fourth divisions of the Commissariat General a l'Information ap- pear to be responsible for the greatest number of publications. Among these the following may be mentioned: Revue sommaire de la Presse etran- gere. No. i , 5 septembre 1939. Sommaire, Presse parisienne. No. I, 2 septembre 1939. From October 31, 1939, both were issued together as: Revues de Presse. Nouvelles a Sig- naler. Daily, mimeographed. T h i s was for the internal use of govern- ment departments. In addition to out- standing news from the local and foreign press, it included news and articles sup- pressed by the censor and news picked up from neutral and enemy radio stations.. From the outbreak of war, the public no longer had access to German, Italian, Russian, and many neutral papers. Some- times, even entire issues of British periodi- cals were seized by the censor. Other publications of a similar nature included: Revue de la Presse regionale. jan- vier 1940- Analyse de la Radio allemande. sep- tembre 1939- In this same category from September 10, 1939) on, were many unnumbered mimeo- graphed bulletins and pamphlets contain- ing the full text of Hitler's speeches, addresses by Goebbels, Hess, and other N a z i leaders, German high command communiques (not published in the French press), German, Italian, and Rus- sian propaganda broadcasts in French, extracts from the Swiss press, encyclicals and statements from the Vatican. Third Division Publications T h e 3d Division issued the following publications which were considered at the time as highly confidential: Compte-Rendu de Renseignements Concernant la Propagande italienne d'apres I'Etude de la Presse. Compte-Rendu de Renseignements Concernant la Propagande allemande d'apres I'Etude de la Presse. Both were quarterly at first, then irregu- lar, and were issued in printed form. T h e Service de l'Information aupres des Formations Militaires et Ouvrieres des Territoires d'Outre-Mer dans le Metro- pole, one of the bureaux of the 3d Division, published a few numbers of a periodical intended for the French colored troops and labor battalions: Bulletin des Armees d'Outre-Mer, Organe officiel du Centre de I'Entr'aide pour les Soldats et les Travailleurs des Territoires d'Outre-Mer dans le Metro- pole. Nos. 1-4, decembre 1939-40, avril DECEMBER., 1941 85 I940» T h r e e editions: Edition arabe (Afrique du N o r d ) ; Edition afrique noire; Edition indochinoise. In conjunction with the government's propaganda effort, various ministries published special information bulletins distributed through the Ministere de l ' l n - formation. Among these: Bulletin d'Information agricole. No. I, 20 mars 1940. Fortnightly. Ministere du T r a v a i l . Cabinet du Ministre. Bulletin de Renseignements. No. 1, mars 1940. Ministere de la Marine. Bulletin d'In- formation et de Presse. Fortnightly. Ministere de l'Air. Bulletin hebdo- madaire. Aeronautique franqaise. T h e 4th Division was responsible for a flood of propaganda publications. It also commissioned or financed books and pam- phlets with the imprints of well-known publishers such as Gallimard and Sorlot. Among these figure prominently speeches by Daladier, Reynaud, Giraudoux, and other members of the government, also the series Notre Combat with contribu- tions from well-known writers and profes- sors such as Edmond Vermeil. It also republished in a more convenient format the French Y e l l o w Book, long a best seller at the moderate price of 7 fr. 50.6 End of Activities A l l these activities met a sudden and tragic end in the second week of June 1940 when the government abandoned Paris. T h e only two publications which have retained a quality of continuity through the upheavals of the last two years are the Journal officiel and the Bulletin mu- nicipal officiel de la Ville de Paris. T h e 6 M i n i s t e r e d e s A f f a i r e s e t r a n g e r e s . Le Livre jaune frangais. Documents diplomatiques, 1938-39. P a r i s , I m p r i m e r i e n a t i o n a l e , 1939. latter was interrupted but for one week during the days preceding the German occupation: No. 39 is dated 31 mai/6 juin 1940 and No. 40, 14 juin 1940. This, it will be remembered, was the day the Germans marched into Paris. T h e Bulletin municipal was the sole connect- ing link between the population and the municipal administration, all that was left of public authority. Frequently consisting of one leaf, often printed in fifty copies only due to lack of paper, containing brief but revealing regulations and appeals mostly concerning food supplies and rela- tions with the occupying enemy, the col- lection of the Bulletin municipal of that period presents a poignant picture of con- ditions during the darkest hours of what was once the "city of light." It continues to appear regularly. T h e Journal officiel was issued in Paris until June 11, 1940, inclusive ( N o . 148) ; No. 149 dated 12/13 juin 1940 consists of only one leaf and bears the im- print T o u r s (Indre-et-Loire) ; No. 150 is dated 1 4 / 1 5 / 1 6 / 1 7 juin 1940 and was published in Pau (Basses-Pyrenees). It contains the decree appointing Petain chief of state in the place of Reynaud. From then until June 30 inclusive ( N o . 1 6 1 ) , the place of publication remained Pau. From No. 162, dated 1/2/3/4 juillet 1940, the imprint is Vichy ( A l - lier). In the early days of August 194° part of the technical staff of the Journal officiel returned to Paris and proceeded to reprint all the numbers issued in the provinces which were out of print. T h e y were gradually supplied to subscribers in occupied France together with current is- sues. T o date there are still two edi- tions, one the original Vichy edition, the other the Paris reprint, usually available within twenty-four to forty-eight hours. 86 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES T h e change in title which occurred on January 4, 1941, when the seventy year old Journal officiel de la Republique frangais became the Journal officiel de I'Etat francais marks the end of an era. Publication Resumed Beginning with August 3, 1940 ( N o . 9 1 0 ) , the following resumed publication in occupied Paris: M inistere d a Commerce et de I'Industrie. Moniteur officiel du Commerce et de I'Industrie. It reprints all important data, legislative and other, from the Journal officiel and the German Verordnungsblatt ( V O B I F ) , with emphasis on economic and social mat- ters. Catalogers may find helpful a fea- ture appearing since February 13, 1941 ( N o . 929) : Guide administratif des Services ministeriels frangais Actuelle- ment a Paris. Little has come from unoccupied France that is not of a propaganda char- acter strongly reminiscent of Fascist and N a z i models. M u c h is made of the per- sonality of Marshal Petain. His portraits, news pictures of his inspection tours, his speeches in the form of booklets, posters, and handbills, biographies, and surveys of his achievements can be found everywhere. Few of these, if any, bear an indication of the department which is responsible for their publication: the Secretariat General de l'Information (previously the Haut Commissariat a la Propagande).7 T h i s should not be confused with the Office Frangais d'Information created by decree of December 20, 1940, an official news 7 T h e s e a r e i l l u s t r a t i v e o f t h i s t y p e of p u b l i c a t i o n : Message du marechal Petain, Chef de I'Etat fran- gais. 11 o c t o b r e 1940. [ G r e n o b l e , I m p r . A l l i e r ] ; L e m a r e c h a l P e t a i n . Appels aux Frangais. 16 j u i n , 20 j u i n , 23 j u i n , 25 j u i n , 11 j u i l l e t , 13 a o u t , 6 s e p t e m b r e , 9 o c t o b r e , 11 o c t o b r e , 30 o c t o b r e 1940. [ T o u l o u s e , I m p r . R e g i o n a l e . ] agency which took over the functions and property of the Havas news agency, January 27, 1941. N o effort is spared in Marshal Petain's new France to popularize physical edu- cation and sports. T o achieve this end the Commissariat General a l'Education Generale et aux Sports issues a number of periodicals, leaflets, booklets, and posters, among which may be mentioned: Education generale et sports. (Feuille d'Information.) No. I, janvier 1941. Vichy-Paris, Commissariat general [etc.] ; Lyn, Impr. Commerciale du Nouvelliste, 1941- No. 2 has subtitle: Feuille d'In- formation pour la Presse. Bulletin d'Information. No. I, fevrier 1941. Les Cahiers de la France sportive. No. I, janvier 1941. In Technical Field In the technical field, publication of the Bulletin des Services techniques of the erstwhile Ministere de l'Air, now Secretariat d'Etat a l'Aviation, appears to have been resumed.8 T h e Service Geo- graphique de l'Armee was abolished July 12, 1940, and the Institut Geographique National subordinate to the Ministere des T r a v a u x Publics was created to take its place. Its functions are described in the decree of April 8, 1941, published in the Journal officiel of April 28. T h e fol- lowing is from its Algerian section: Etat Frangais. Service Cartographique de I'Algerie. Carte forestiere de I'Algerie et de la Tunisie, pub. par ordre de M . l'amiral Abrial, gouverneur general de I'Algerie. Notice par P. de Peyerimhoff. . . . Alger, 1941. 8 Publications scientifiques et techniques du Secre- tariat, d'Etat a l'Aviation. Bulletin des Services techniques. N o . 92, f e v r i e r 1 9 4 1 . Id. N o . 93, j a n v i e r 1 9 4 1 . P a r i s , G a u t h i e r - V i l l a r s , 1 9 4 1 . DECEMBER., 1941 87 T h e r e is one Vichy publication of first- rate importance which together with the Journal officiel gives a clear picture of all government activity. T h i s is an unas- suming looking bulletin entitled Informa- tions generates.9 It is designed to keep the diplomatic missions abroad informed on "the situation of the country and the reforms being accomplished," and has been published weekly since September 8, 1940, (the first number covered August 1 1 - 3 1 ) with the number of pages from seven to sixty per issue. T h e subject matter is divided into sixteen sections entitled as follows: Aspect General de la Vie fran- qaise; Relations avec Vexterieur; Poli- tique et Administration; Justice; La Vie sociale et profesionnelle; Famille et Sante; Armee, Marine, Aviation militaire et Prisonniers de Guerre; Travail et Pro- duction; Agriculture et Ravitaillement; Co mmerce et Finances; Transports et Travaux publics; La Vie de VEmpire; Instruction publique et Jeunesse; Les Beaux-Arts et les Lettres; Presse et Ra- diodiffusion; Revue de Presse. T h e sec- tion Beaux-Arts et Lettres includes men- tion of new books and periodicals. 8 M i n i s t e r e d e l ' l n t e r i e u r . B u r e a u d ' E t u d e s j u r i - d i q u e s et d e D o c u m e n t a t i o n g e n e r a l e . Informations generates. N o . i - . 8 s e p t e m b r e 1940- . [ V i c h y , W a l l o n ] 1940- . 38 n o s . u p to M a y 20, 1 9 4 1 . T h i s publication was preceded by an official pamphlet covering the period from July 10, the date of the new constitutional law, to August 10, and is entitled: Un Mois de Renovation nationale. According to a notice in N o . I of the Informations generates, it was planned to issue a Bulletin de la Radio nationale, but no copy of this has come to hand. Official Gazette of the Free French Finally, it may be of interest to mention the official gazette of the Free French un- der General de G a u l l e : Journal officiel de la France Libre. l r e annee, No. I, 20 janvier 1941. London, 4 Carlton Gar- dens, S . W . i . T h i s looks very much like the Vichy official gazette and includes the following documents: organic texts; "or- dinance-laws;" decrees; certain military orders; regulations; circulars and public notices; various administrative documents. Similarly, French Equatorial Africa, which has joined General de Gaulle, has its official gazette: Journal officiel de VAfrique franqaise Libre et de VAfrique Equatoriale Franqaise. Brazzaville, aout 1940- . N o . 18, dated September I, 1940, contains Organic Act No. 1 consti- tuting the government of Free French A f r i c a . 88 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES