Photo: Agence de presse Meurisse · Public domain
Born in France · Nationality French — politics / Vichy regime / collaboration / Holocaust / forced labour / post-war justice
Documented profile covering 12 controversies, including “October 1945: Death sentence and execution following a trial whose fairness remained disputed” and “January 1943: Legal establishment of the French Milice under the authority of the head of government”.
Profile No. 2082 · Updated on 12 October 2026
§ Legal statuses reflect the documented sources as of the date shown; they replace neither court decisions nor the presumption of innocence. Counts are not a rating. Methodology
Case · 4 documented stages
4–15 October 1945
The High Court of Justice sentenced Laval to death after a trial held from 4 to 9 October 1945; he was executed by firing squad on 15 October after a suicide attempt. The case concerned, among other matters, his collaboration with the enemy.
Last verified: 14 September 2026
2–17 July 1942
Laval's government negotiated the organisation of arrests with German officials and agreed to the use of French police. On 16 and 17 July, more than 13,000 Jews were arrested during the Vel d'Hiv roundup.
Last verified: 14 September 2026
4–July 1942
A German report attributes to Laval the proposal that children under sixteen should also be taken when Jewish families from the unoccupied zone were deported. French and German authorities subsequently deported thousands of children.
Last verified: 14 September 2026
August 1942
After the Vel d'Hiv roundup, Laval's government continued cooperating in deportations, with French forces carrying out roundups of foreign or stateless Jews in the unoccupied zone.
Last verified: 14 September 2026
30 January 1943–1944
Laval signed the legislation creating the French Milice; the law made the head of government its chief. Under Darnand, the organisation became a force for repressing Resistance members, Jews, communists and other opponents.
Last verified: 14 September 2026
4 September 1942–16 February 1943
Following the failure of the Relève scheme, the law of 4 September 1942 authorised the requisitioning of workers, and the law of 16 February 1943 established the STO to send French labour to the Reich.
Last verified: 14 September 2026
22 June 1942
In a radio broadcast, Laval declared that he wished for Germany's victory, a phrase that became emblematic of his commitment to collaboration.
Last verified: 14 September 2026
June–September 1942
To meet German labour demands, Laval launched the Relève scheme: the promised release of one French prisoner of war was to correspond to the departure of several workers for Germany.
Last verified: 14 September 2026
September 1942
The French National Archives indicate that Laval authorised the German Abwehr and Orpo to pursue French Resistance members and the British nationals assisting them in the Free Zone.
Last verified: 14 September 2026
June–10 July 1940
As Deputy Prime Minister, Laval was one of the principal architects of the political manoeuvre that led Parliament to vote to grant Pétain full constituent powers on 10 July 1940, paving the way for the Vichy regime.
Last verified: 14 September 2026
October–December 1940
Laval played an essential role in the policy of collaboration and was the principal instigator of the Pétain–Hitler meeting at Montoire, a symbol of Vichy's entry into state collaboration.
Last verified: 14 September 2026
December 1935–January 1936
Laval and British minister Samuel Hoare devised a settlement plan for the Italo-Ethiopian War providing for substantial concessions to Italy. Its disclosure provoked widespread political outrage and discredited the policy of collective security.
Last verified: 14 September 2026
Documented biographical or institutional milestones (elections, appointments, foundings, acquisitions…). These are not controversies and are not counted as such.
At the insistence of the German authorities, Laval returned to power as head of government and simultaneously held the Foreign Affairs, Interior and Information portfolios, strengthening the policy of collaboration.
No documented link with another published profile for now.
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