6 juillet 1940
1er novembre 1941
A côté du fichier général que la Direction du Centre fut amenée à faire compléter, au début de 1941, par un recensement auprès des familles de prisonniers elles-mêmes, il existait un fichier départemental ; en outre, on commença à procéder aux recherches de disparus par des enquêtes auprès de leurs camarades de combat : ce fut l'origine d'un fichier militaire où les prisonniers étaient classés par unités. Un recensement professionnel fut entrepris pour le département de la Seine, à titre d'exemple, en vue du reclassement des prisonniers à leur retour de captivité. En liaison avec le "Souvenir français", un service du Centre se chargeait de réunir tous renseignements sur des emplacements de tombes militaires et communiquait ces informations au Service de l'Etat-civil militaire dépendant du Secrétariat général des Anciens Combattants, ainsi que les notifications qui pouvaient parvenir au Centre des décès de prisonniers en Allemagne.
Le Secrétariat du Directeur avait comme tâche particulière la correspondance avec les organismes officiels (Ministères, Préfectures, Mairies, Ambassade Scapini), avec la Croix-Rouge et les oeuvres d'assistance aux prisonniers : il répondait aux demandes de recherches qui impliquaient des démarches plus complexes que les réponses normales du service du fichier général, et faisait effectuer des enquêtes à la demande de prisonniers sans nouvelles de leur famille. Ce service prit, un temps, l'initiative de correspondances directes avec les commandants de camps en Allemagne, pour obtenir des renseignements sur des prisonniers dont les familles ne recevaient pas de nouvelles ; l'Ambassade Scapini s'opposa bientôt à ces échanges qui ne passaient pas par son intermédiaire, mais ne transmit pas, pour autant, les listes-questionnaires destinées par le Secrétariat du Centre aux commandants allemands des camps.
Enfin le Directeur, Pierre Caron, est personnellement à l'origine de l'institution de la carte de colis des prisonniers qui fut utilisée jusqu'à la fin de la guerre.
Lors de l'avance allemande, en juin 1940, la plupart des services administratifs français quittèrent la capitale pour se replier vers le Centre et l'Ouest de la France.
Après l'armistice, pour répondre aux demandes de la population civile, le Préfet de la Seine, demeuré à Paris et coupé de l'administration centrale, se vit dans l'obligation de créer une sorte de Bureau de renseignements chargé de fournir aux familles les premiers éléments d'information qui pourraient être obtenus sur les prisonniers : d'abord sur ceux qui avaient été capturés aux alentours de la capitale et se trouvaient enfermés à Drancy, puis, peu à peu et d'une façon plus générale, sur l'ensemble des prisonniers.
L'arrêté du Préfet de la Seine créant le "Centre d'information sur les Prisonniers de guerre" et daté du 6 juillet 1940 fixait le siège de cet organisme aux Archives nationales, dont le directeur, Pierre Caron se trouvait être un des seuls hauts fonctionnaires de l'administration restés sur place. Le "Centre" était rattaché provisoirement à la Préfecture de la Seine, laquelle se chargeait de rétribuer les nombreux employés qui durent être engagés. En effet, l'importance du Centre d'accrut rapidement, à mesure que des listes de prisonniers étaient dressées dans les camps, d'abord par les soins des représentants de la Croix-Rouge qui apportaient du ravitaillement aux prisonniers encore stationnés en grand nombre en France, puis par les autorités allemandes qui firent elles-mêmes dresser des "Meldungen" de prisonniers. Ces éléments d'information, complétés peu à peu par des renseignements venus de la Croix-Rouge de Genève, de l'Ambassade Scapini et de diverses autres sources, étaient transcrits au Centre sur des fiches nominatives qui s'intercalaient entre les fiches de demandes de recherche émanées des familles, pour former un énorme fichier général. D'autre part, et sur la demande des autorités allemandes, le Centre d'Information se chargea de la publication de listes alphabétiques de prisonniers qui furent diffusées en zone occupée et en zone libre.
Par un arrêté du Secrétaire d'Etat à la Guerre, en date du 19 novembre 1940, le Centre d'Information, considéré comme un bureau officiel de renseignements pour la zone occupée, fut rattaché financièrement à la Sous-direction, en zone occupée, du Service des prisonniers dépendant du Secrétariat d'Etat à la Guerre.
Vers le milieu de l'année 1941, le Secrétariat d'Etat à la Guerre étudia la possibilité de fondre le C.N.I.P.G., qui comportait alors plusieurs centaines d'employés, avec la Sous-direction du Service des prisonniers de guerre, en supprimant un certain nombre d'activités du Centre qui pouvaient être remplies par d'autres services. Le Centre cessa de fonctionner à partir du 1 novembre 1941 et sa documentation fut transférée à la Sous-direction des prisonniers du Secrétariat d'Etat à la Guerre. Pierre Caron, directeur sortant de fonction, conserva par devers lui, puis remit aux Archives nationales les dossiers de son secrétariat, ceux-là même qui font l'objet de l'état sommaire ci-joint. Cette documentation présente un intérêt certain pour l'historique de l'organisation des services français de prisonniers de guerre quelques jours après l'armistice, lorsque le problème se posait, dans Paris vidé par l'exode, de constituer un organisme chargé de recenser les prisonniers et de renseigner les familles. On a gardé les premières listes, celles qui furent apportées des camps de Baccarat et de Thaon-les-Vosges, au début du mois de juillet 1940, par des membres de la Croix-Rouge qui ravitaillaient ces camps. Elles témoignent de l'empirisme des débuts, auquel se substitua très rapidement une organisation méthodique dont les résultats furent efficaces. Les dossiers du Secrétariat du Centre qui donnent d'intéressants renseignements sur l'origine et l'évolution de cet organisme, méritaient à ce titre d'être conservés pour l'Histoire. Les communiqués officiels de la Direction du Service des prisonniers de guerre, les ordres du jour et procès-verbaux du Comité central d'assistance aux prisonniers et de la Commission du retour du prisonnier ont été joints aux dossiers se rapportant à ces organismes qu'ils ont permis de compléter.
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