New York to remove Nazi collaborator Petain plaque

New York’s Democratic mayor promises to remove a plaque dedicated to Nazi collaborator Philippe Petain, who led Vichy France during World War II, following deadly violence in Virginia.

A woman was killed and 19 other people injured Saturday when a suspected white supremacist drove his car into a group of anti-racism protesters at a neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

“After the violent events in Charlottesville, New York City will conduct a 90-day review of all symbols of hate on city property,” Bill de Blasio announces on Twitter.

“The commemoration for Nazi collaborator Philippe Petain in the Canyon of Heroes will be one of the first we remove.”

The Canyon occupies a stretch of Broadway in Manhattan’s Financial District. Plaques on the sidewalk commemorate those feted with a ticker-tape parade in New York — an honor that Petain received in 1931 as a World War I hero.

But a decade later, he went on to lead the Vichy regime in France that collaborated with German Nazis from 1940-1944.

He passed legislation that subjected Jews to severe discrimination and under his leadership the Vichy regime put to death up to 15,000 people and helped deport nearly 80,000.

— AFP