Joseph-Marie Jaffré, better known as Job Jaffré (May 6, 1906 - March 12, 1986), was a French journalist and Breton nationalist. He also published under pseudonyms, most notably as Jos Pempoull.

Jaffré was born in Berné

Berné

Berné is a commune in the Morbihan département in Brittany in north-western France.-External links:* * -References:* *...

, Morbihan

Morbihan

Morbihan is a department in Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan , the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastline.-History:...

. His journalistic work was strongly associated with the promotion of Breton culture and language. He worked on Breton onomastics

Onomastics

Onomastics or onomatology is the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. The words are from the Greek: "ὀνομαστικός" , "of or belonging to naming" and "ὀνοματολογία" , from "ὄνομα" "name". Toponymy or toponomastics, the study of place names, is one of the principal branches of...

 and toponymy

Toponymy

Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...

. He also became active in the Breton separatist movement.

Working for the journal Nouvelliste de Lorient he created the "Celtic Circle of Lorient" and became active in the Breton National Party

Breton National Party

The Breton National Party was a nationalist party in Brittany that existed from 1931 to 1944. The party was disbanded after the liberation of France in World War II, because of ties to the Nazi party....

. He also worked voluntarily for Loeiz Herrieu

Loeiz Herrieu

Loeiz Herrieu or Louis Henrio was a Breton historian who wrote in his native language of Breton vannetais. The son of a farmer, he was nicknamed Er Barh Labourér ....

's Breton language literary magazine Dihunamb.

World War II

During the German occupation, he became associated with collaborationism. After December 1940 he became one of the hosts of Radio Rennes Bretagne

Radio Rennes Bretagne

Radio Rennes Bretagne was a radio station based in Rennes, and the first station to have regular Breton language programming. However, it was not powerful enough to broadcast to the Breton-speaking western parts of the peninsular...

. In May 1941 he joined L'Heure Bretonne

L'Heure Bretonne

L'Heure Bretonne was a Breton nationalist weekly newspaper which was published from June 1940 to June 1944. It was the organ of the Breton National Party and was strongly associated with collaborationist politics during World War II....

, the journal of the Breton National Party. He later became its editor in chief. Hervé Le Boterf in his book La Bretagne dans la guerre asserts that Jaffré made L'Heure Bretonne into something of a sensationalist publication, "under his leadership, the party's weekly adopted a popular novelistic style." To bring about a new increased circulation for the newspaper, he emphasised gossip, lurid headlines and scandal stories.

Under Jaffré, the journal also published a number of articles supporting antisemitic acts under German occupation. Following the mass arrest

Mass arrest

A mass arrest occurs when the police apprehend large numbers of suspects at once. This sometimes occurs at illegal protests. Some mass arrests are also used in an effort combat gang activity. This is sometimes controversial, and lawsuits sometimes result...

 of Jews in Paris known as the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup on 16 and 17 July 1942, L'Heure Bretonne published a front page article entitled À la porte les juifs et les enjuivés ("Show the Door to the Jews and the Judaized") under the signature "DR".

In the same vein, Jaffré, under his pseudonym "Tug", published a denunciation of the bombings committed by the forces of "youtre-Atlantique", a wordplay on "outre-Atlantique" ("over the Atlantic") and "youtre", a derogatory term for "Jew". Later in the same year, he wrote that he expected a "reversal of alliance... when the Jewish problem has been eliminated".

Post war career

At the Liberation, he was jailed for 14 months, but he was released in December 1945 without any conviction. In 1955 he became a writer for La Liberté du Morbihan, which had replaced the defunct Nouvelliste de Lorient. He was responsible for overseeing the news section "Pays d' Auray". One of his most popular contributions was the bilingual weekly column signed "Madedad" ("father'sson") . He also contributed to the journal Breizh , published by Kendalc'h. Jaffré died in Auray

Auray

Auray is a commune located in the Morbihan department of Brittany in France. Inhabitants of Auray are called Alréens.-Geography:The city is surrounded by the communes of Crac'h to the south and west, Brech to the north and Pluneret to the east. It is crossed by the Loch, a small coastal river...

.

Publications

• Yann Ar Baluc'henn. Arrangé par Daniel Doujet. Dastum, 1986.
• Le Breizh hor bro (avec la coll.de Charles Le Gall). 1955. Rédité en 2005, Toutes les Cultures de Bretagne, Ed. Skol Vreizh.
• Seigneurs et Seigneuries du Kemenet-Heboé , Dalc'homp Soñj, 1986.
• Secrets et Mystères de nos Kêr, édition Dalc'homp Soñj / Lorient.
• Etrezomp e brezhoneg, 1980–1981, édité par Emglev Bro an Orient, 2008. Recueil d'articles hebdomadaires du journal La Liberté du Morbihan.