Joseph Antignac
Joseph Antignac was a French official and businessman who served as secretary-general of the Commissariat-General for Jewish Affairs from 17 May to 17 August 1944 under the Vichy regime. Earlier, he had been regional director of the Police for Jewish Affairs, director of the Investigation and Control Section for the southern zone, and chief of staff at the CGQJ.
Early life and career
Antignac was born in Bordeaux, France, on 29 July 1895. A career soldier during and after the First World War, he later entered business; by 1935 he was director of a wood-veneer and insulation firm in Belgium. Mobilised on 3 September 1939, he fought until being demobilised in October 1940 and then took refuge in Périgueux.Vichy France
In October 1941 Antignac was appointed director of the Police for Jewish Affairs for the Limoges region. In August 1942 he became director of the SEC for the zone libre; from November 1942 he served as chief of cabinet at the CGQJ, positions he retained until 1 April 1944. In April and May 1943, as cabinet director, he sent three reports to Heinz Röthke denouncing the concealment of foreign Jewish children linked to associates of Juliette Stern within the UGIF. In April 1944 he briefly served as director-general of economic aryanisation.By decree of 17 May 1944 Antignac was placed at the head of the CGQJ with the title of secretary-general, a post he held until mid-August 1944. As Paris was being liberated, Antignac and a collaborator ordered the gathering and burning of files—particularly SEC dossiers—in the CGQJ courtyard between 17 and 21 August 1944; other documents were piled in the cellars.