The Vel d'Hiv Raid

This book is the only contemporary analysis of the Vel d'Hiv roundup, its precursors and its aftermath. A uniquely detailed study of a notorious incident of cooperation between xenophobic and anti-Semitic forces. Undeniable proof of French police's role in the roundups of Jews, denied for over 50 years, and full documentation of which was criminally destroyed. Shocking, large compilation of published articles in the collaborationist press that promoted social discord and hatred of Jews, distorted or obscured the raids on immigrant Jews in Paris under Nazi occupation, and used emotional appeals to nationalism to justify persecution. A companion piece to Rajsfus' previous title, Operation Yellow Star/Black Thursday: The voice of Maurice Rajsfus is valuable and unique because it mixes his narrative as a victim of the roundup with the sharp perception of the journalist that he became. Appendices include: the 1995 speech by President Jacques Chirac that was the first official apology and acknowledgement of French police participation in the Vel d'Hiv raid; flyers translated from Yiddish showing the organization and resistance of immigrant Jews under the Occupation; Police Chief Emile Hennequin's decrees organizing the raid with instructions for making arrests, bus allotments to arrondissements, the number of police, etc.