A political purge under the guise of Nazi repression

Senator Jean Berthoin suspected the communists of having orchestrated the Grenoble Saint-Barthélemy to eliminate the Radical-Socialist party. Almost all the executed resistance fighters belonged to the Radicals while no communist leader was troubled by the Gestapo. This elimination directly benefited the militant Pierre Flaureau, who seized control of the Committee of Fighting France by ousting all his rivals.