On 20 July 1941, he was interned in Vals-les-Bains after he decided to move away from the Vichy regime, and in December managed to flee to Tunisia. In early November 1942, the Allies invaded the German-occupied Maghreb during Operation Torch, and Tixier-Vignancour was arrested then interned again, that time by the German authorities. He was released following the ejection of the Axis powers from North Africa by the Allies in May 1943. After his liberation, Tixier-Vignancour unsuccessfully tried to join the French Expeditionary Corps in Italy. Caught up with his collaborationist past, he was quickly arrested by the French Committee of National Liberation and declared ineligible to hold public office for ten years on 4 December 1945.