Service du travail obligatoire

The STO was created under laws and regulations of Vichy France,[1] but it was used by Nazi Germany to compensate for its loss of manpower as it enlisted more and more soldiers for the Eastern Front.

French forced laborers were the only nationality to have been required to serve by the laws of their own state rather than by German orders.

250,000 French POWs also had to work for the Reich from 1943 onwards, having been "transformed", voluntarily or involuntarily, into civilian workers.

The law of 4 September 1942, signed by Philippe Pétain, Marshal of France and Chief of State of Vichy France, and Laval, was entitled "loi du 4 septembre 1942 relative à l'utilisation et à l'orientation de la main-d'œuvre" or "Law of 4 September 1942 on the use and guidance of the workforce".

Young people in the classes of "1940", "1941" and "1942" (born between 1920 and 1922) were obliged to go to work in Germany (or France) as a substitute for military service.

The Class of "1942" was the most affected and exemptions or suspensions initially promised to farmers or students were removed in June 1943.

The STO caused the departure into hiding of nearly 200,000 and of these about one quarter became full-time members of the French resistance.

The STO accentuated the movement of French public opinion against the Vichy regime and contributed to the Resistance.