Vel D Hiv Roundup

960 Words2 Pages

In this essay, you will learn about the Holocaust in France, which is known as t he Vel d’ Hiv Roundup. It took place in 1942, and it was a tragic event. There were a lot of people that survived it and you will learn about two of the people that did. There were also many people that lost their lives and it will be part of our nation’s history forever. (The Holocaust in France)
At dawn, in the month of July, some 4,500 French policemen began a mass arrest of foreign Jews living in Paris. Over 11,000 Jews were arrested on the same day, and were sent to the Winter Stadium, which became known as Vel d’Hiv in Paris. They were kept in crowded conditions and had almost no food and water. Within a few weeks, they arrested about another 2,000 …show more content…

The number of Jews in the stadium had reached a number of about 13,000 and about 4,000 of them were children. Any children between the age of 2 and 16 were arrested with their parents. The Jews that were arrested weren’t just from Paris; they were from many other places too. They came from Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Russia. Many of them that were arrested had been alerted about it but they thought that the transportation would be men only. In the next week, the Jews were taken from the Winter Stadium and sent to different concentration camps in the northeastern region of Paris. The concentration camps that they were sent to were called Pithiviers and Beaune-la-Rolande. At the end of July, the Jews that were being kept in concentration camps were separated from their children and sent away. Before the Jews were sent away, their heads were shaved and they had a violent body search. Most of them that were sent away were sent to Auschwitz and murdered. In the end of August and during the month of September, more than 3,000 …show more content…

She was 11 years old at the time of the roundup. It was 3 a.m. and the Soldiers banged on the door of the Kaufer house. They pointed their guns at their heads and made them leave their house. They packed what little things they could and they had to walk miles until they made it to a truck stop. Many hours later, Cecile’s family and many other Jews were packed onto trucks and they were taken to the Winter Stadium. They spent many days without water and food and nobody had a clue what was going on. When they got to the stadium, her father convinced one of the guards to let their family stay together because her mother was sick. A couple days later, two guards let Cecile and her little sister leave the stadium with their mom and go to the hospital. This was the last time they seen their father and their older sister. While they were at the hospital, they convinced a guard to let them leave the hospital. Their grandparents made arrangements for Cecile and her little sister to be taken into hiding by a French woman that was from Normandy. She was already hiding 5 other Jewish children so it was a good hiding place. She lived in hiding for many years and she was scared all of the time. They went days without food before they could finally eat. Cecile promised her mother that she would take care of her little sister, and she still takes care of her to this day.

Open Document