Paris 1942: Memoirs of a Survivor
Publisher
:
Éditions P.U.F.
Parution date
:
2002
EAN
:
9782914645072
Description
Maurice Rajsfus was 14 years old when he was rounded up along with his parents and sister in the infamous « Vel d’hiv » raid of July 1942. An unexpected announcement that all children between 14 and 16 should leave the detention center saved his life, just as it separated him from his parents forever. This is the memoir of that day, of how he and his sister went back to the family home, only to find the concierge raiding the closets. It is the memoir of the years of fending for themselves back in the apartment, in an occupied Paris, with no parents, no way to earn a living, and in constant danger of being deported. It the unlikely survival story of a boy who went on to become a renowned activist, historian, and author. Backed by information from the once-inaccessible police archives, Rajsfus reconstructs one of the most baffling phenomena in the history of the occupation, and uncovers a startling fact: the willing and unrepentant participation of the French police in the process, and the apparent absence of direct Nazi participation.
Author
Maurice Rajsfus : Maurice Rajsfus is a historian and the President of the Observatoire des Libertés Publiques, a watch-dog organization keeping tabs on civil rights, particularly for immigrants. He is the author of, among others, L’an prochain la révolution (Mazarine, 1985), Sois Juif et tais-toi! Les français israélites face au nazisme, 1930-1940 (EDI, 1981), Opération Étoile jaune (le cherche midi, 2002).
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