Vel' d'Hiv Roundup
The Vel' d'Hiv Roundup was a Nazi raid and arresting in Paris by the French police on July 16th and 17 of 1942. Those arrested were taken to Veldrome d'Hiver, a large stadium in Paris, and the Drany internment camp nearby. After staying at the stadium and the camp, the arrested were then shipped to Auschwitz. Emile Hennequin on July 12th that the arrest must happen quickly and without asking questions. The roundup began at 4:00 a.m. on the 16th. The police had records of all the Jews in Paris. 13,512 Jews total were arrested, 5,802 were women and 4,051 were children. An unknown amount of people escaped because they knew early about the roundup or were missed (on purpose, or accidentally) by the police. There were special conditions to the arrest. Those arrested were only allowed to bring a blanket, a sweater, two shirts and a pair of shoes with them. Many families were split apart, and were never reunited.
In the end, the roundup made up one fourth of the 42,000 Jews that were sent from France to Auschwitz in 1942. Only 811 returned to France at the end of the war.
Note: This doesn't have much to anything to do with US History, but it's an event that intrigues me so I wrote about it anyway:D
