Paul Teitgen and torture during the Algerian War
Riceputi, Fabrice
Paul Teitgen and torture during the Algerian War - 2019.
18
During the summer of 1956, Paul Teitgen, a high-ranking civil servant, was appointed to the Algiers police prefecture by the Guy Mollet government. Although he was entrusted with the mission of “republicanising” the colonial police force, by January 1957, Teitgen had in fact become a central figure of the “Battle of Algiers”. As a former member of the French Resistance and a survivor of Gestapo torture chambers and Nazi concentration camps, Teitgen was outraged by the routine use of torture and forced disappearance during the Algerian war. Attempting to criticise these actions from the perspective of his Christian and Republican values, Teitgen ended up publicly denouncing the crimes committed by the French Army. Drawing on the archives of the Algiers police prefecture, this article describes an exceptional and highly painful act of betrayal with echoes of the Dreyfus affair, set against the backdrop of a colonial war.
Paul Teitgen and torture during the Algerian War - 2019.
18
During the summer of 1956, Paul Teitgen, a high-ranking civil servant, was appointed to the Algiers police prefecture by the Guy Mollet government. Although he was entrusted with the mission of “republicanising” the colonial police force, by January 1957, Teitgen had in fact become a central figure of the “Battle of Algiers”. As a former member of the French Resistance and a survivor of Gestapo torture chambers and Nazi concentration camps, Teitgen was outraged by the routine use of torture and forced disappearance during the Algerian war. Attempting to criticise these actions from the perspective of his Christian and Republican values, Teitgen ended up publicly denouncing the crimes committed by the French Army. Drawing on the archives of the Algiers police prefecture, this article describes an exceptional and highly painful act of betrayal with echoes of the Dreyfus affair, set against the backdrop of a colonial war.
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