Meeting between Lefranc and Préfet de la Haute-Vienne in Limoges

Lefranc met with the Préfet de la Haute-Vienne in his Limoges office at 11:30 am. He came with an official from the Judicial Police of Paris. Lefranc told the Préfet that he intended to draw up an inventory of the Schloss collection later that day, presently located in a vault of the Banque de France. The Préfet reminded Lefranc that no one in the highest reaches of the Vichy government had been made aware of the transfer of the Schloss collection to Paris. In fact, quite the opposite was true since the order given from on high was to leave the collection where it was—at Chambon. Furthermore, the truck designed to take the collection back to Paris was being driven by German police officials who pretended to be French policemen. Lefranc retorted that no one in Vichy was aware of this operation due to rivalries between Darquier de Pellepoix and certain officials there, like Bousquet. He was able to procure a truck from the German authorities owing to his access and entrées. If there were German policemen in the truck, it was to deflect any potential problems with _Feldgendarmerie _units.