Although the French and British governments declared war in Germany following the German invasion of Poland at the start of September 1939, on the street of Paris there were no sudden changes, even after the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the other side two weeks later. On 10 May 1940 the Germany army invaded France, however, and this time the impact in Paris was immediate, especially for political exiles from Germany. All German women in France were ordered to report to the authorities on 13 May 1940. Irene Wosikowski was unable to comply with the requirement because she was arrested overnight on 12/13 May and taken to the Gurs internment camp to the south of Bordeaux. The German army overran northern France in approximately six weeks. Under the terms of the Franco-German armistice of 22 June 1940 the northern half of France was now to be placed under direct German control, while the southern half - defined at the time as the "free zone", was to be administered from Vichy by a puppet government to be led by a respected French war hero. Over the next couple of years the already limited autonomy of the Vichy government would be further diminished, but in 1940 it was significant that the internment camp was located not in the "occupied zone" but, along with the important cities of Toulouse, Lyon and Marseilles, in the "free zone".