Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Kodayake gwamnatocin Faransa da na Burtaniya sun ayyana yaƙi a Jamus bayan mamayewar Jamus na Poland a farkon Satumba 1939, a titin Paris babu canje-canje kwatsam, koda bayan da Tarayyar Soviet ta mamaye Poland daga wancan gefen makonni biyu bayan haka. A ranar 10 ga Mayu 1940 sojojin Jamus sun mamaye Faransa, duk da haka, kuma a wannan lokacin tasirin a Paris ya kasance nan da nan, musamman ga 'yan gudun hijirar siyasa daga Jamus. Duk matan Jamus a Faransa an umurce su da su ba da rahoto ga hukumomi a ranar 13 ga Mayu, 1940. Irene Wosikowski ba ta iya bin wannan buƙata ba saboda an kama ta a daren 12/13 ga Mayu kuma aka kai ta sansanin Gurs da ke kudu da Bordeaux. Sojojin Jamus sun mamaye arewacin Faransa a cikin makonni shida. A karkashin yarjejeniyar tsagaita wuta tsakanin Faransa da Jamus
na 22 ga Yuni, 1940, yanzu za a sanya rabin arewacin Faransa a ƙarƙashin ikon Jamus kai tsaye, yayin da rabin kudancin - wanda aka ayyana a lokacin a matsayin "yanci kyauta", za a gudanar da shi daga Vichy ta hanyar gwamnatin marigayi da za a jagoranci wani jarumi na Faransa mai daraja. A cikin shekaru biyu masu zuwa za a rage yawan ikon mallaka na gwamnatin Vichy, amma a cikin 1940 yana da mahimmanci cewa sansanin da aka tsare ba a cikin "yanki ba" amma, tare da manyan biranen Toulouse, Lyon da Marseilles, a cikin "yanki kyauta".