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In September 1940, several political figures, including government leaders such as Léon Blum and Paul Reynaud, are placed under the control of the detention centre in Pellevoisin (Indre). During his internment, Paul Reynaud reveals the secret agreements reached between Marshal Pétain, President Lebrun and himself concerning the terms of his resignation on 16 June 1940. On 31 December, at the request of members of the Vichy government, the internees of Pellevoisin are taken in secret to Marseilles in order to cross to North Africa and continue the fight against the occupant there. Their voyage is stopped two days later after consultation between Vichy and high-ranking British and American authorities. These events, revealed by Robert Courrier (son of the director of the Pellevoisin detention centre) on the basis of files hitherto unopened, allow for a better understanding of the complex and often ambiguous relations between the former French leaders and their replacements, face to face with the German occupiers and the Anglo-American demands.