PARIS — On Sunday, France held ceremonies to commemorate the Vel d’Hiv roundup, a period in 1942 marked by the mass arrest of Jewish citizens by French police, representing one of the most dark chapters of the country’s wartime history.
During two days in July 1942, French authorities detained thousands of Jewish individuals, forcibly separating children from their parents before deporting them to Nazi death camps. Amidst a modern rise in antisemitism, France holds annual commemorations to ensure the memory of these victims is preserved.
As home to Europe’s largest Jewish community, France has experienced an increase in antisemitic incidents—including vandalism, threats, and physical violence—following the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and the subsequent conflict in Gaza.
Ahead of the recent memorial ceremony, French authorities reported that a plaque in Paris had been vandalized. The memorial honors a family recognized by Israel as “Righteous Among the Nations” for saving a 13-year-old child during the 1942 roundup.
“To attack the Righteous is to desecrate the entire universe,” stated Deputy Defense Minister Alice Rufo. “The plaque will be restored, and their memory remains undiminished. The Republic will not yield an inch in the face of antisemitism in all its forms.”
Following the 1940 Nazi invasion of France, the nation was governed by the Vichy regime, which collaborated with Nazi Germany.
The term “Vel d’Hiv” refers to the Winter Velodrome, where many detainees were held prior to their deportation to concentration and extermination camps. On July 16 and 17, 1942, more than 4,500 police officers were mobilized and dozens of buses were utilized to conduct the largest roundup of Jews in France during World War II. Arrests lasted until July 20, resulting in the deportation of 13,152 people, one-third of whom were children.
It was not until 50 years after the end of World War II that French leadership officially acknowledged the state’s role in the Holocaust, when then-President Jacques Chirac issued a formal apology for the actions of French authorities during the Vel d’Hiv raids.
