At Vichy, in 1940, he helped to rally a group of veteran Senators, in their vain attempts to oppose the constitutional changes being made. His vote was one of the eighty cast against giving full powers to Marshal Pétain. As a result, he was placed under surveillance by the Vichy Régime. In 1941, while back in his hometown, the Régime accused him of holding a high position with the Freemasons.[1] Shortly after, he resigned his office and joined the Resistance. Following the invasion of the zone libre by German troops, he became a special target for the Gestapo, forcing him, at the age of sixty-five, to join the Maquis.
