Annotated bibliography

Malana Smith
6th November 2013
Professor Matt Cherry

Vel' d'Hiv: France's Role in the Holocaust: an Annotated Bibliography

Fischel, Jack. The Holocaust. 1st ed. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Company, 1998.     Print.

Known as one of the leading experts within this subject, Fischel tells of Nazi Germany political aggressiveness within World War II in pushing the program of the Final Solution- the movement that would lead to a mass genocide of the Jewish Nation. Through narrative essays, political documents of the Adolph Hitler, firsthand accounts of survivors and biographies of both survivors, Nazi Jews and spectators, Fischel gives the reader a depiction of what led up to the Holocaust, what occurred during and the aftermath of this horrible event in history.

"Life in Shadows: Hidden Children of the Holocaust." The Lupin Foundation. United    States Holocaust Memorial Museum, D.C.. 28 08 2003. Museum Exhibition.

This exhibition discusses the lives of Jewish children who were forced into hiding in order to avoid placement in concentration camps during the Nazi Germany regime. Children were forced to hide in cellars or attics if they did not have Aryan physical characteristics. This would cause them suffer from lack of human interaction, loneliness, fear and anxiety. Some would even hide under a different religion. Years after the Holocaust, most of the parents of the hidden children were deceased, causing more emotional turmoil, depression, and apathy. Some children spent years trying to discover the outcome of their family members who were not able to go into hiding as well.

Kelly, Tara. "Cecile Widerman Kaufer, Holocaust Survivor, Recounts 1942 Vel d'Hiv Round-Up in Paris Stadium." Huffington Post [New York City] 17 07 2012, n. pag. Web.  <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/17/france-vel-d-hiv-70-anniversary_n_1678941.html>.

Holocaust Survivor, Cecile Widerman Kaufer recounts her story of how she and over 13,000 foreign Jews in France were rounded up and forced to stay in the Vel' d'Hiv Stadium in Paris for days without food, water, or places to use the restroom. Due to the fact her mother had tuberculosis Celine (along with her baby sister) were allowed to go with their mother as she went to the hospital. There her mother sent a woman from Normandy to collect Cecile and her sister and place them in hiding. 

Lazare, Lucien. Rescue as Resistance: How Jewish Organizations Fought the Holocaust in France . New York City: Columbia University Press, 1996. Print.

Though to some it may not have seemed impactful, the rescuing of Jewish children in France was actually a beneficial force against the anti-Jew laws within France. Citizens of France would volunteer to hide Jewish children within their homes as their parents were sent to concentration camps. This saved thousands of children during World War II and brought resistance against the French Government’s involvement with Nazi Germany. Lazare gives firsthand accounts of children rescued during this period and the reaction of France to this act of resistance.

Levy, Claude, and Paul Tillard. Betrayal at the Vel d'Hiv. English. New York City: Hill & Wang, 1969. Print.

Levy and Tillard collect information on the Vel d’Hiv roundup where Jews in France are sent to a sports arena to await placement in concentration camps. With conditions comparing to that of the Superdome after hurricane Katrina, Betrayal at the Ve d’Hiv discusses how the French police arrested Jews of Paris and the surrounding areas unexpectedly as neighbors looked the other way. Including first-hand accounts of the event, as well as eyewitness accounts from non-Jews, Levy and Tillard dig deeper to discover the horrible reality of what occurred on July 16^th 1942.  

Mora, Mirka, Joseph Kogan, Eva Gluckman, Cecile Kaufer, and Marcelle Bock. "The Vel d'Hiv Roundup." Yad Vashem. 2012. . Web. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRN15hAspJE.

Survivors tell of their experiences within the French Roundup of Jews in 1942. From escaping, to being warned by sympathetic policeman to actually going to the concentration camps, these survivors open up to what they saw, felt, heard and was told by others who were also forced to stay at the Vel d'Hiv until sent away to Auschwitz. 

Sayare, Scott. "France Reflects on Its Role in Wartime Fate of Jews." New York Times [New York] 29 07 2012, National Edition A12. Print.

Commemorating the 70th anniversary of the infamous Vel' d'Hiv round-up of the Jews within France, the French stand together in unity as they remember the injustice served to the Jews during the Holocaust. Those who survived shared their accounts of that day, as well as those citizens of Paris who looked away and did not stand up for the people of Israel. Once a shameful thing to talk about, this celebration is also an apology for the events that occurred so long ago that led to the deaths of over 13,000 Jews of France. 

Weisberg, Richard. Vichy Law and the Holocaust. 1st. New York City: Routledge, 1997. Print.

Weisberg discusses the French government’s (known at the time as “Vichy” France) involvement with the Nazi Germany’s anti-Jew policies. He brings the idea that the above-and-beyond compliance of Vichy France in accordance to orders given to France by Nazi Germany to implement the anti-Jew policies as an excuse to exercise the disapproval of the Jewish religion due to their Catholic roots as a nation. Weisberg discusses the exploitation of these anti-Jew laws by private lawyers and how this fueled the institutionalized anti-Semitism within the nation’s government.