France 3 is broadcasting an original documentary on the Vél d’Hiv roundup. Based on accounts from survivors and original archives, the report retraces the events that led more than 13,000 Jews to the concentration camps.
France 3 is broadcasting a program on the Rafle du Vél d’Hiv on the occasion of the 80 years old of the tragic events of July 1942. Since Monday July 11, 2022, the television channel has been broadcasting: “The Vel d’Hiv roundup, shame and tears“, an unprecedented 1h43 program directed by David Korn-Brzoza and already viewable in streaming on the France TV platform. This documentary film tells the story of the roundup from the point of view of the victims, all Parisians of Jewish religion, but also trackers, the police of the Vichy regime. last survivors of this tragic episode in history come as a complement. The narration begins with the planning of the deportations by the French authorities, and describes the hour-by-hour sequence of events in the streets of Paris. This documentary being built fromunpublished archives or rarely consulted, it brings a new decryption of this roundup of the Vélodrome d’Hiver.
The Vél d’Hiv roundup takes place on July 16 and 17, 1942, when French police, on orders from German authorities, arrest more than 13,000 Jews in Paris, including women and children. Most of these people are taken to Winter Velodrome of Paris (rue Nélaton, 15th arrondissement) while others were interned directly in the Drancy camp. The Jewish prisoners are then sent to the Auschwitz extermination camp. Only a few dozen people will survive. This event is the largest mass arrest of Jews in France during the Second World War.
When and where did the Vél d’Hiv roundup take place?
The Vél d’Hiv roundup takes place on July 16 and 17, 1942. The arrests target in particular the districts of Paris where the Jewish community is important, that is to say the 3rd, 10th, 11th and 12th arrondissements. Some of the Jews (about 5,000 single people or couples without children) are taken by bus to the Drancy camp, the other part (8,160 people) are taken to Winter Velodrome, a building dedicated to sports competitions. The prisoners of the Vél d’Hiv, more than half of whom are children, are held there for five days in deplorable conditions, without drinking water or food. They were then taken to the camps of Pithiviers and Beaune-la-Rolande (Loiret), then deported by train to the Auschwitz camp. Today the Vél’ d’Hiv’ no longer exists, it was demolished in 1959.
Why did the Vél d’Hiv roundup take place?
The first deportations of Jews living in France took place in 1940 in a nominative way, then massive in 1941. The wearing of the yellow star by the Jews was imposed in May 1942. In July 1942, France had been occupied for two years by the Nazi Germany. The country is ruled by the Vichy regimedirected by Philippe Petain and Pierre Laval. The new French State submits to the will of the Third Reich led by Adolf Hitler, to organize the deportation of Jews from France to Germany (a priori, without being aware of the existence of the extermination camps). In this context, the Third Reich demanded that France hand over 110,000 Jews to its labor camps. After negotiations, it is understood that French police would “round up” foreign and stateless Jews, 27,391 foreign Jews having been identified in the Paris region. The Vél d’Hiv roundup is therefore the first of a series of arrests organized by the French authorities, first around Paris, then in the free zone. In total, over 75,000 Jews were deported from France during World War II.
Who organized the Vél d’Hiv roundup?
The Vél d’Hiv roundup was organized by the French police and the German authorities. The main culprits of the raid are:
- Philippe Petain and Peter Lavalheads of the Vichy government;
- René Bousquet, secretary general of the Vichy police;
- his deputy, Jean Leguay;
- SS Colonel Helmut Knochen;
- SS Captain Theodor Dannecker, head of the Gestapo;
- Amédée Bussière, prefect of police of Paris;
- Jean François, director of the general police;
- Émile Hennequin, director of the municipal police;
- André Tulard, in charge of Jewish issues at the prefecture.
- About 9,000 French police carried out the arrests.
How many deaths did the Vél d’Hiv roundup cause?
During the Vél d’Hiv roundup in July 1942, 13,152 Jews were arrested: 3,118 men, 5,919 women and 4,115 children. Several dozen people succumbed to the deplorable sanitary conditions which prevailed at the Vélodrome d’Hiver. All of the Jews arrested were sent to the Loiret camps or to the Auschwitz extermination camp. Of the 4,115 children, none survived. Fewer than a hundred adults returned from deportation. The 13,152 people in the Vél d’Hiv roundup represent more than a quarter of the 42,000 Jews arrested in France and deported to Auschwitz in 1942.
The testimonies of the Vél d’Hiv roundup remain few, but it is possible to delve into the following works:
- Anna Traube wrote theEscape from the Vél’ d’Hiv
- Annette Muller is the author of The little girl of the Vél’ d’Hiv
- Eva Tichauer testifies in I was number 20832 in Auschwitz
- Her name was Sarah by Tatiana de Rosnay
- Roger Boussinot tells Louvre counters
- The Vel d’Hiv roundup: Paris, July 1942 written by Laurent Jolly
Some historical archives have been opened and the Paris police headquarters has published this file: The winter velodrome roundup, the police archives.