UGIF is the acronym for Union Generale Des Israelites De France, which was the French Jewish council established on November 29,1941. There were two separate UGIF organizations: UGIF-N for the occupied area of France; and UGIF-S for the Vichy controlled area of France. In effect, these organizations functioned as Judenrats for France. These organizations took over all the various philanthropies and social agencies created by the Jews and were subordinate to the commissioner-general for Jewish affairs. All Jews in France were required to pay dues to the UGIF. The effect of this reorganization was to give control of the substantial assets of the Jewish organizations to Vichy officials and the Germans.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of a cover postmarked November 4, 1942, is an official cover from the HICEM department of the UGIF-S in Marseille addressed to the Comite De Proteccion a Los Immigranntes Israelitas in Santiago, Chile. HICEM was the organization founded in 1927 to centralize the work of organizations and local committees involved with Jewish immigration. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Cover" in the left frame to return.
Museum of Tolerance On Line Learning Center
http://www.yadvashem.org.il/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%205897.pdf
Michael R. Marrius and Robert O. Paxton, Vichy France and the Jews, Basic Books, Inc. (1981) P. 109-12
Copyright © 2004 Edward Victor