The Vel d'Hiv Roundup: France's Darkest Summer

In July 1942, French police rounded up over 13,000 Jewish residents of Paris at the Vel d'Hiv cycling track, holding them in brutal heat before deportation to Auschwitz. This episode uncovers the mechanics of the roundup — the careful lists, the collaborationist bureaucracy, the role of the SNCF — and the long silence that followed. We follow the fate of a few individuals, from the Vel d'Hiv to Drancy, and trace how France's memory of this event shifted from denial to acknowledgment, culminating in President Chirac's 1995 speech that finally took responsibility. A story about complicity, memory, and the fragile line between occupation and collaboration. #VelDHiv #Holocaust #Vichy #France #WWII #Drancy #Auschwitz #Chirac #Collaboration #Histoire #Memory #Occupation #SNCF #Paris #JewishHistory #RenéBousquet #PierreLaval #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo