The Trial of Paul Touvier

Incoming Editorial·Reviewed April 23, 2026

Paul Touvier, a former member of the Vichy Militia, was sentenced to death in 1947 for war crimes but evaded justice thanks to the support of the Church and the statute of limitations, which expired in 1967. In 1973, he received a presidential pardon from Pompidou, but an investigation led to the reopening of proceedings for crimes against humanity, for which there is no statute of limitations. Hunted down, he was arrested in 1989 at the Saint-Joseph Priory in Nice. His trial began in March 1994, shedding light on the role of the Milice, the armed wing of the collaboration, and of Vichy. Touvier was charged with complicity in crimes against humanity for the execution of seven Jews in retaliation for the assassination of a propagandist. His personal notebooks reveal his anti-Semitism. On April 20, 1994, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and died in 1997. This trial sparked a debate on the responsibility of the French state during the Occupation.