Contrary to some scholars' assertions, material shortages in wartime France did not lead ordinary citizens to become indifferent to the Jews' plight. Rather, the author maintains, the material situation influenced local application of the Vichy regime's antisemitic laws and shaped relationships between natives and Jewish refugees. Officials in the Limousin region used the urban housing crisis touched off by the influx of refugees to justify evictions of foreign Jews and their expulsion to rural areas. Authorities in the small towns and villages, for their part, accused these Jews of driving the black market. However, ordinary citizens usually proved more pragmatic than ideological in their interactions with Jews. © 2007 Oxford University Press. all rights reserved.

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