Serge Klarsfeld did an exhaustive study of the French children who were deported to KZ Auschwitz II-Birkenau and other concentration camps during the German Occupation of France between 14 June 1940 and 25 August 1944. The number of deported children (i.e., under the age of eighteen) totaled 11,146. He estimated that less than three hundred returned. His book (see below in “Recommended Reading”) is quite lengthy at 1,881 pages. The motivation behind writing the tome was to create a memorial to the children by recording images of the young victims rather than allowing them to slip into history as mere statistics and a footnote. Klarsfeld appealed to the families and friends to send him photographs of the children who were deported. Approximately two-thirds of the book are these photographs and, in many instances, a short description of the childrens’ fates.
Serge and Beate Klarsfeld. Photo by anonymous (c. 2007). Klarsfeld Foundation. PD-Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported. Wikimedia Commons.
I will center our discussion today on the children who survived. However, most of the stories do not end well as parents and siblings often perished at the hands of the Nazis. Click here to watch the video clip French Jewish Children for the Holocaust. Read More The Children Who Survived
Child survivors of Auschwitz (Photo – 1945), Belarussion State Archive of Documentary Film and Photography. Public Domain. Wikimedia Commons.
Born in Poland, Jacob Bresler, 16-years old, survived 5 concentration camps. He lost his entire family to the Holocaust. After spending 2 years at the Landsberg DP (displaced persons) near Munich Germany, Jacob moved to the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Samuels took him into their family and treated him as their son. Jacob went into the US Army, became a television producer, restaurateur, and successful businessman before retiring.
Jacob was fortunate—he was one of very few children who survived.
Shortly after World War II ended, the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) produced a series of radio broadcasts with the purpose of attempting to locate relatives of the children who survived the Nazi concentration and extermination camps. If the children found their living relatives, most of the stories did not have happy endings like Jacob’s story. Most of the children were rejected or treated shabbily by their relatives.
One of the most disturbing is the story of deportation of young French children. The Vél d’hiv raffle or Grand Roundup took place in Paris over 2-days starting 16 July 1942. A total of 12,884 Jews were arrested and moved to Vél d’hiv (a giant bicycle racing covered arena). From there, they were moved to a detention camp known as Drancy located on the outskirts of Paris. This was their last stop before being herded into the cattle cars and taken to Auschwitz. Between 17 and 30 September 1942, 34 convoy trains carrying 33,000 French Jews left Drancy for the extermination camp.
July 1942 was the month the Nazis decided to deport Jewish children regardless of age. The French government known as Vichy agreed. Their reasoning was that they didn’t want the children growing up and figuring out the government’s complicity in having their parents and families murdered. The ages of the deported children ranged from babies to teenagers.
More than 11,000 children from Paris were deported to the extermination camps during the period of occupation. It is estimated that only 300 survived.
Jacob Bresler, 86-years young, continues to this day to search for members of his family.
Do we have a lot of stories? Of course we do. I’m looking forward to sharing these with you. Please continue to visit our newsletter and blog. Perhaps you’d like to subscribe so that you don’t miss out on the most recent newsletter and blog posts.
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This book presents three detailed walking tours and numerous metro station oriented short walks that identified significant occupation locations. Each location on the walk is fully explained. In addition, the author uses many sidebars to provide additional supporting information. The appendix provides a wealth of additional information and pictures that the novice and well read Occupation scholar will find helpful. Whether your first exposure to the Occupation or one of many books you have read, this book is a must read prior to visiting Paris. The format and size of the book make it easy to carry in your carry-on luggage. The book is the first of a three volume set. I can’t wait to see the information to be presented in Volumes 2 & 3.
Patrick from Albuquerque.
Patrick Morrissey, Amazon customer
Lavishly illustrated, gripping guide to the Paris that existed under Nazi rule.
This is a fantastic new book that provides extensive information for both those planning a trip and for armchair historians. While there are are walks that take you past famous places made infamous by Nazi rule, there is also a lot of detailed information. Stew Ross provides details about many topics that are not necessarily popular, including anti-semitism and collaboration. Photos add poignancy. Paris is haunted by its past, and these pages show you exactly why. The days of the Occupation and the Resistance are not that distant.
