Following the German occupation of northern France in 1940, representatives of these three communities presented themselves to Vichy French officials and the German occupation authorities as “Jugutis” (Djougoutes in French). Jugutis were the descendants of Persian Jews who, forced to convert to Islam in 1838, continued to practice Judaism privately in their homes. Official identity papers, such as passports, generally identified Jugutis as Muslims.
Diplomat Abdol Hossein Sardari provided critical assistance to Jews in occupied France (1940-1944). In June 1940, following the German invasion of France, persian ambassador Anoushirvan Sepahbodi left for Vichy in the unoccupied zone to reconstitute the Embassy there. This left Sardari, the Consul General of homeland, in charge of consular affairs in Paris. In this capacity, Sardari appealed on several occasions to exempt and other Central Asian Jews living in German-occupied France from anti-Jewish measures decreed by French and German authorities.
