Jump to content

Pierre Sidos

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pierre Sidos
Pierre Sidos in 1976
Born(1927-01-06)6 January 1927
Saint-Pierre-d'Oléron,Nouvelle-Aquitaine,France
Died4 September 2020(2020-09-04)(aged 93)
Bayeux,France
MovementMouvement Franciste(1943–45)
Jeune Nation(1949–58)
Parti Nationaliste (1958–59)
Occident(1964–65)
L'Œuvre Française(1968–2013)
Parent(s)François Sidos
Louise Rocchi

Pierre Sidos(6 January 1927 – 4 September 2020) was a Frenchfar rightnationalist,neo-Pétainist,andantisemiticactivist. One of the main figures of post-WWIInationalism in France,Sidos was the founder and leader of the nationalist organizationsJeune Nation(1949–1958) andL'Œuvre Française(1968–2013).

Sidos was convicted in 1946 of joining the fascistMouvement Francisteat 16 years old in the midst ofWWIIandNazi occupation of France.After spending two years of internment inNatzweiler-Struthof,he founded in 1949 Jeune Nation, the most prominent French neo-fascist movement of the 1950s.[1]Famous for its insurrectional violence during theAlgerian war,[2]the organization was dissolved by official decree in 1958.

Convicted a second time in 1963 of "recreating a disbanded league" and "compromising State security", Sidos foundedOccidentthe following year, but soon broke with the group. He eventually established anotherVichyistmovement in 1968, L'Œuvre Française, of which he was the leader until he stepped down in 2012. The movement was banned a year later, making it the fourth association founded by Sidos to be dissolved by the French authorities, and the fifth he had been part of, in a 70-year period of political activism.

Early life and WWII

[edit]

Family: 1927–1938

[edit]

Pierre Sidos was born on 6 January 1927 inSaint-Pierre-d'Oléron,the son of François Sidos (1891–1946) and Louise Rocchi.[3]He grew up in a familial background strongly tainted with nationalism and far-right ideologies.[4]As a child, he had fun recreating theMarch on Romein the family house staircase[4]with his brother Jean, laterkilled in actionby the German forces in 1940. Pierre Sidos has asserted that the death of his brother was the event that made him swing into political action.[5]

His father, aCatholicand anti-republican right-winger, had been a member of theJeunesses Patriotes,afar-right leaguedissolved in 1936. Born inMouzaïaville(then inFrench Algeria) and serving in thecolonial army,he had traveled across theFrench empirewhere he met his wife Louise.[3]AFirst World Warhero, François Sidos eventually collaborated with theVichy regimeduring WWII.[4]His mother Louise was ofCorsicandescent and his grandfather, Jean Rocchi, a ferventBonapartistand friend ofPierre Taittinger,future leader of the Jeunesses Patriotes.[5]

Collaboration and internment: 1939–1948

[edit]
Pierre Sidos joined in 1943 the youth movement of theParti Franciste.(1934)

In 1943, then 16 years old (the minimum required age), Pierre Sidos joined the youth movement of theParti Franciste,one of the maincollaborationistmovements under theVichy regime.In January 1946, he was tried by a court inLa Rochelle—along with his father, mother and his brother Jacques—convicted and received a 5-year jail sentence for his membership in the Parti Franciste. The conviction was reduced as Sidos was still a minor at the time of the events. His father François was sentenced todeath,guilty of unlawful arrests ofresistersorganized with theMilice,and of his participation in the armed conflict with the Nazi forces against theAllies.Before his execution on 28 March 1946, François wrote a letter to his sons, urging them to avenge his "unjust death".[4]

His brother Jacques was sentenced to 10 years in jail for his past in theVichyintelligence services, his mother released with all charges dropped, and Pierre was sent in autumn 1946 to theNatzweiler-Struthofconcentration camp inAlsace.The place, originally built by the Nazis in 1941, had been recently transformed by the French authorities to include elementary needs, such as central heating or electric lighting. The inmates—most of them former Nazi-collaborators—could even organize free-fights, running competitions or put on a play.[4]

While serving his sentence, Pierre Sidos spent most of his time reading and running. He met Marcel Bibé, a formerBezen Perrotmilitant who initiated him in Celticesoterism.Sidos then began to write aboutdruidismand theCeltic Cross,which he described in his prison notes as the allegory of the "walking sun and universal life", a symbol he would later use in all the organizations he created:Jeune Nation,OccidentandL'Œuvre Française.[4]

In 1948, the French authorities made an offer to the inmates: their release against an enlistment in theIndochina War.Sidos refused the proposition, while hundreds of former Nazi collaborators were sent to fight within the French army in southeast Asia, diffusingWehrmachtandSSsongs they had learnt during their internment in Natzweiler-Struthof.[4]

Jeune Nation

[edit]
Main article:Jeune Nation

Leader: 1949–1958

[edit]

Sidos nonetheless benefited from an early release on 4 August 1948. He quickly found a job and contacted another of his brothers, François. The latter, unlike most of the family, had joined theFree French Forcesin 1942 and participated inOperation Dragoonalong with theAlliesin the summer of 1944. They were joined by their brother Jacques following his own release, and together they prepared the ground for the creation ofJeune Nation.[4]

Celtic cross
TheCeltic Cross,symbol of all the movements Sidos founded fromJeune Nation(1949-58) toL'Œuvre Française(1968-2013).

By 1949, the final structure of the organization had been designed and the group ready to be launched, but the Sidos brothers lacked money as far-right financial sponsors were not abundant in the immediate post-war. Pierre Sidos then decided to reach out to Jeanne Pajot, the wife of a rich industrialist. ABonapartistand friend ofPierre Taittingerlike his grandfather, she agreed to fund them and "La Jeune Nation" —as it was initially called—held its first presentation on 22 October 1949.[4]Publicly unknown for several years, the movement experienced a sudden fame and a rise in membership after the return of military personnel from south-east Asia following the end of theFirst Indochina Waron 20 July 1954.[6]

Labeling themselves the "successors ofthose of 1934"and targeting young people in their recruitment,[6]Jeune Nation was joined in 1956 byDominique Venner,then 21, who would later oppose Sidos and mark a shift between hiseuro-nationalistdoctrine and the "nostalgicneo-Petainistsof Pierre Sidos. "[7]Although they were largely inspired by the ideologies offascist ItalyandVichy France,[8]Jeune Nation began to break with thecollaborationistcircles that had been protecting them since Sidos' prison time. AsGaullistsand former resisters were joining their ranks during theAlgerian war,Sidos furthermore banned any evocation of the period 1933–1945 among its militants, with only a few events like the commemorations ofRobert Brasillachor6 February 1934allowed to take place.[4]

The group was particularly known for their violent street attacks, especially on communists. On 9–10 October 1954, a commando raid led by Sidoscarjackeda van transporting issues of the communist newspaperL’Humanité Dimanche,then destroyed them and assaulted the driver who died a few months later as a result of his injuries.[2]Jeune Nation was dissolved on 15 May 1958 by an official decree ofJules Moch,thenMinister of the Interior,two days after the putsch of Algiers and the beginning of theMay 1958 crisis.The group had been suspected of a bomb attack that occurred on 6 February 1958 in theNational Assembly.[7][1]

Escape and arrest: 1959–1962

[edit]

The association was regardless declared again under a new name to theprefecture of policeon 7 October 1958, and officially recreated by Pierre Sidos andDominique Vennerduring a congress on 6–8 February 1959 as "Parti Nationaliste".[9]The new organization was dissolved only four days later, on 12 February 1959, and an arrest warrant was issued on 24 January 1960 for "recreating a disbanded league" and "compromising State security".[10]

From January 1960, Sidos lived in clandestinity in a house ofNeuilly,in the western suburbs of Paris. He stayed in contact with putschist generals and pro-colonial politicians likeJean-Marie Le Pen,and was eventually arrested on 13 July 1962.[10][11]Sidos was released on 19 June 1963 following his trial, and sentenced to a suspended 3-year jail sentence and a 2,000Francfine.[10]

L'Œuvre Française

[edit]
Main article:L'Œuvre Française

Transition: 1963–1967

[edit]

Jeune Nation was regenerated by young former members of the movement after the launch of theFederation of Nationalist Students(FEN) in 1960. Sidos initially supported the project but eventually dismissed the influence ofDominique Venneron the association, as well as theirneo-paganandeuro-nationalistleanings. Together with other activists opposed to the FEN, Sidos decided to foundOccidentin 1964. During the presidential campaign of far-right candidateJean-Louis Tixier-Vignancour,Occident was largely involved in the grassroots movement Comité Jeunes ( "Youth Committee" ), which quickly attracted several hundred members. Following a dispute between Sidos andJean-Marie Le Pen,then Tixier-Vignancour's campaign director, Sidos' group was replaced withDominique Venner'sEurope-ActionVolunteers.[12]Sidos eventually broke with Occident in 1965–1966.[13]

In February 1966, he created with André Cantelaube the magazineLe Soleil( "The Sun" ), which later became the official organ ofL'Œuvre Françaisefrom 1968 until it was banned from publicity and sales to minors in 1990 following theGayssot Act,then replaced by a resurrectedJeune Nationin 1994.[14]Sidos was labeled the "bard of antisemitism" by historianPierre Milza,andLe Soleildefended a form of anti-capitalist nationalism that denounced the role of Jews in finance, politics and the industries, as well as the "threat" represented by the state ofIsraelin geopolitics.[15]

Leader: 1968–2012

[edit]

Sidos set upL'Œuvre Françaisein 1968 and declared himself "presidorfor life "(French:présideur,aportmanteauofprésidentanddictateur).[16]Closer toFrancoist Spainand the PortugueseEstado Novothan fascist regimes, L'Œuvre Française wasantisemitic,neo-Pétainistand nationalist.[17]Sidos then seemed to endorse a blend ofCatholicism,pan-European nationalismand anti-Semitism, with someThird Positioninfluence, as his ideology of choice.[18]Designed as acult of personality,the organization was labeled a sect or "Church of Sidology" by critics even at the far right,[19]while its adherents highlighted the discipline and determination allowed by their organizational style.[5]

He attempted to run in the1969 French presidential electionon this platform, seeking to stand as a nationalist andanti-Zionistcandidate,[20]but his candidacy was rejected by theConstitutional Councilon a technical basis. It has been argued that there was a fear any judgement in Sidos' favour would have been considered a vindication of his collaborationist background in wider society.[21]Le Soleil,organ of L'Œuvre Française, dismissed the Jewish origin of some members in the council, namelyGaston PalewskiandRené Cassin,as the reason for their refusal.[22][15]In 1973, Sidos was the only candidate for L'Œuvre in thelegislative election.[15]Sidos was said to have metAntónio Salazarfor a short encounter in the 1960s,king Faisalof Saudi Arabia for a one-hour meeting on 28 April 1971 inRiyadh,as well asJuan Perónon 22 October of the following year in Madrid, and former SS colonelOtto Skorzenyin the same city. According to Sidos, Perón declared to him that "Paris [had] been the world capital of subversion since 1789."[5]

By the 1980s he had come to moderate his own position and sought to build a wider alliance with other fringe right-wing movements, includingmonarchists,integristsand the supporters ofMarcel Lefebvre.To this end he joinedFrançois Brigneau,Pierre PujoandJean Madiranin a commemoration service for the tenth anniversary of the occupation ofSaint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnetby theSociety of St. Pius Xin 1987. Sidos subsequently sought co-operation with theFront National(FN) although at other times he would dismiss the party as too moderate.[23]In 1996, he announced the rallying of L'Œuvre to the party, despite the opposition of his right hand manYvan Benedetti.[19]

After negotiations with Sidos,Jean-Marie Le Peneventually allowed someL'Œuvremilitants to integrate the FN in 2007.[24]The party however later tightened its policy regarding the association,Marine Le Pendenouncing an "operation ofentryism"to facilitate the seizure of power by her rivalBruno Gollnischin the FN.[25]Following Jean-Marie Le Pen's departure from the leadership in 2011, replaced by his daughter Marine, Sidos severed all ties with the party, telling far-right newspaperRivarolthat he did not feel a woman should have such an important position.[26][27]

In 2012, at 85, he left the presidency of L'Œuvre Française, succeeded byYvan Benedetti.[28]

Late life: 2013–2020

[edit]

In 2013, the association he had founded 45 years earlier was dissolved by the authorities.[29]Manuel Valls,thenMinister of the Interior,denounced L'Œuvre Française as a group "spreading a xenophobic and antisemitic ideology, diffusing racist andHolocaust-denying thesis, exaltingcollaboration[with the Nazis] and theVichy regime,paying regular tribute toPétain,BrasillachorMaurras",[30]adding that the movement was "organized like a private militia in paramilitary-like training camps."[31]

On 28 November 2013, the associationLes Amis de Pierre Sidos( "The Friends of Pierre Sidos" ) was created to "make the works of patriot Pierre Sidos and that of his family known".[32][33]

He died inBayeuxhospital on 4 September 2020.[34]

Controversies

[edit]

On 6 February 1990, he was invited on the TV talk-showCiel, mon mardi!.To the question "are you an anti-Semite?" he famously answered: "no more no less thanSaint-Louis",in reference to the king of France who forced Jews to wear a distinctive roundel and banned mixed marriages. Sidos further precised in 2013 that" Saint-Louis had a religious hostility but was the godfather of many Jews that converted [to Christianity]. "[5]Sidos was also ferventlyanti-Zionist,denouncing Israel as the "avowed metropolis of an invisible and harmful empire […] with dominant aims."[15]

In a 2013 interview, he describedAdolf Hitleras the "GermanNapoléon"andBenito Mussolinias "the last of theCaesars".[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^abShields 2007,p. 94.
  2. ^abGautier 2017,pp. 42–43.
  3. ^ab"Registres de Mouzaïaville Naissances de 1891 folio n°17/25" & "Archives départementales de Charentes-Maritimes"
  4. ^abcdefghijCharpier, Frédéric (2005).Génération Occident(in French). Le Seuil.ISBN978-2020614139.[better source needed]
  5. ^abcdefDoucet 2013.
  6. ^abGautier 2017,pp. 40–41.
  7. ^abTaguieff, Tarnero & Badinter 1983,pp. 30–33.
  8. ^Gautier 2017,pp. 46–47.
  9. ^Gautier 2017,pp. 48–49.
  10. ^abcDard 2000,p. 140.
  11. ^D'Appollonia 1998,p. 291.
  12. ^Shields 2007,p. 126.
  13. ^Algazy 1984,p. 51.
  14. ^Faye, Olivier; Mestre, Abel; Monnot, Caroline (24 July 2013)."Dissolution de l'Oeuvre française, plus ancien groupe d'extrême droite en activité".Le Monde(in French).Retrieved2019-08-13.
  15. ^abcdGautier 2017.
  16. ^Gautier 2017,p. 398.
  17. ^Lebourg 2014.
  18. ^Griffin, Roger(1995).Fascism.Oxford University Press. p. 371.ISBN978-1-5095-2071-8.
  19. ^abGautier 2017,pp. 409–411.
  20. ^Shields 2007,p. 158.
  21. ^Algazy 1984,p. 76.
  22. ^Le Soleil,n°99, 2-15 octobre 1970.
  23. ^Rees, Philip(1990).Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890.Simon & Schuster. p. 358.ISBN978-0-13-089301-7.
  24. ^Crépon, Sylvain (2015).Les faux-semblants du Front national: Sociologie d'un parti politique(in French). Presses de Sciences Po.PT67.ISBN9782724618129.
  25. ^AFP (29 September 2010)."Marine Le Pen dénonce" une opération d'entrisme "au FN pour lui nuire".Le Point(in French).Retrieved2019-08-11.
  26. ^Vergnaud, Vivien (19 June 2017)."Le dernier pétainiste de France".Le Journal du Dimanche(in French).
  27. ^Sidos, Pierre. "Il faut d'urgence une révolution intellectuelle et morale". Interview byJérôme Bourbon,Rivarol,no. 2963, 30 July 2010.
  28. ^Faye, Olivier; Mestre, Abel; Monnot, Caroline (7 February 2012)."Pierre Sidos quitte la présidence de l'Oeuvre française".Le Monde(in French).Retrieved2019-08-10.
  29. ^AFP (30 December 2014)."La dissolution des Jeunesses nationalistes et de l'Œuvre française confirmée".Libération(in French).Retrieved2019-08-10.
  30. ^AFP (24 July 2013)."Nouvelles dissolutions de structures d'extrême droite".La Croix(in French).ISSN0242-6056.Retrieved2019-08-11.
  31. ^Staff (24 July 2013)."Manuel Valls annonce la dissolution de l'Oeuvre française et des Jeunesses nationalistes".France 24(in French).Retrieved2019-08-11.
  32. ^De Boissieu, Laurent (3 March 2019)."Œuvre Française (Œ) — France Politique".France Politique.Retrieved2019-08-13.
  33. ^"Présentation | Les Amis de Pierre SIDOS".2018-06-10. Archived fromthe originalon 2018-06-10.Retrieved2019-08-13.
  34. ^Johannès, Franck (5 September 2020)."Mort de Pierre Sidos, figure de l'extrême droite pétainiste et nationaliste".Le Monde(in French).

Bibliography

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pierre_Sidos&oldid=1194200163"