PARIS (AP) — France has signed an accord to allow the Holocaust museums in Paris and Washington to digitize the vast French World War II archives so the museums can more easily display information on the collaborationist Vichy regime to the public.

Speaking at a Paris ceremony Thursday, France's Veterans Minister Jean Marc-Todeschini said the "rise of populism in parts of the world" makes educating younger generations about the war vital.

After the Germans invaded and occupied France in 1940, France's Vichy-based government collaborated with the Nazis and helped deport Jews to concentration camps.

Radu Ioanid, international acquisitions director for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum says the digitalization project to be carried out by a group of archivists also will help uncover information on war criminals and anti-Semitic crimes committed in France.