This Sunday is National Day in memory of the victims of racist and anti-Semitic crimes by the French state.
“The heroism of the Righteous has most often remained hidden, these are people who have never asked to be recognized”declared Sunday July 16 on franceinfo Patrick Klugman, lawyer, president of the French Committee for Yad Vashem, International Institute for the memory of the Holocaust, while we celebrate on this July 16 the National Day in memory of the victims of racist crimes and anti-Semites of the French state.
On July 16 and 17, 1942, in Paris and its suburbs, the Vél d’Hiv roundup took place, 13,000 Jews were arrested, locked up by the French police and deported by the Nazis. This commemoration day is an opportunity to pay tribute to the Righteous, those who protected and hid Jews during the Second World War. “They are found in all walks of life, in all regions” of France, indicated the lawyer.
franceinfo: How many Righteous are there left living in France?
Patrick Klugman: I don’t know the answer to that question, but obviously most of the Righteous are no longer alive. Most of the Righteous are even often honored after their death. That’s what’s incredible. The heroism of these people has mostly remained hidden. The Righteous are people who have never asked to be recognized.
“The Righteous are people who, at the risk of their lives, have carried out an exemplary action and who have been honoured, often obviously recognized by the families, by the children who have been saved.”
Patrick Klugman, President of the French Committee for Yad Vashemat franceinfo
The Just is a character whose honor was very often secret until the end. There are only those who had facts to reproach themselves for, who tried to invent acts of heroism at the Liberation or after the war. The true Righteous have always said that what they did was normal when it was exceptional and never claimed the slightest recognition. This made their existence difficult to know about. This is the mission of Yad Vashem.
Do they come from very different social backgrounds?
They are found in all walks of life, in all regions. You obviously have them even in the police, in the public service, you obviously have them in the Church, you have them in the countryside, you have them absolutely everywhere. For example, the second district police commissioner [de Paris] when he learns that the raid is going to be committed, when it is going to be notified to him, he runs himself in front of all those he knows, the Jews of his district, to warn them, alert them, ask them to flee . These are unimaginable facts. And yet, they happened.
Is it important to remember that there is also this part of France that exists?
The Vel d’Hiv is really the concentration of the worst and the best of France. I can’t say anything else. It is the betrayal of the state, of the government and it is the heroism of individuals at the bottom of the scale who think of nothing, who seek no reward, who have nothing to gain, but who exercise there what they conceive to be their share of humanity. Really, the Vel d’Hiv is the worst and the best of France. We are looking today at the scene of the crime to commemorate these two parts. To recall the worst and to recall the best, the heroism of the Righteous.