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Paris plaque honoring Holocaust rescuers vandalized before Vel d'Hiv commemoration
A memorial plaque in central Paris recognizing a couple and their daughter who saved a child during the 1942 Vel d'Hiv roundup was vandalized last week. French authorities reported the damage ahead of the annual commemoration ceremony.
Jul 19, 11:27 AM·1m read2 sources
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A commemorative plaque in central Paris honoring a couple and their daughter who saved a 13-year-old child during the 1942 Vel d'Hiv roundup was vandalized last week. The plaque, which recognizes the family for sheltering Edmond Rajchman, was broken down the middle with most of the text missing, French authorities said.
d'Hiv roundup French police rounded up more than 13,000 Jews over several days in July 1942 under orders from the wartime Vichy government. The detainees were held at the Winter Velodrome before being deported to Nazi camps. A third of those arrested were children. The operation remains one of the largest roundups of Jews carried out in France during World War II.
response and context French authorities said the vandalism occurred ahead of the annual July 19 commemoration of the roundup. "To attack the Righteous is to desecrate the entire universe," said Alice Rufo, deputy defense minister. "The plaque will be restored.
Their memory remains undiminished. " France is home to Europe's largest Jewish population and has recorded a rise in antisemitic incidents since October 2023.
