What Is The Ve 'Lodrome D' Hiver Roundup?

Ve’lodrome d’Hiver also known as “The Roundup”, was a raid and a mass arrest of people who where of Jewish background, in Paris by the French police directed by German Nazi authorities.It had involved nearly a third of the 42,000 Jews departed to the death camps in Poland in 1942. As many victims up to 13,152 were arrested, including more than 4,000 children.
The Roundup mainly included victims from Paris and its suburbs. The nightmare had taken slightly over two days. It all occurred on July 16, 1942. The name was derived from the “Nickname” Ve’lodrome d’Hiver which means a bicycle and also a stadium where most of the Jews were temporarily confined. The Ve’lodrome d’Hiver Roundup was one of the many attempts aimed at reducing the Jewish
population.
The places and camps that the Jewish victims were held in had been extremely crowded, the conditions almost without water, food and they did not include a Restroom.
The Germans shipped the Jews by trains and buses to Auschwitz, also other concentration camps. Within a week the number of Jews held in the Vel’ d’Hiv had reached more than 13,000. (Gilbert,2011) Among those detained were Jews Germany, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic and Russia.
Cecile Winderman Kaufer was one of the innocent people to have lived through and survived to have her story told. The Huffington Post Magazine had an interview with the eighty two year old french Holocaust survivor. Cecile author of “ Goodbye For Always: The triumph of the Innocents”, had the chance to tell her stories the way she saw them unfold. Miss Widerman and her younger sister escaped from paris stadium and subsequently went into hiding in Normandy, France. Cecile was one of
the three daughters to publish immigrant family living in paris. In her book she writes “ We immediately felt the nazi occupation” as she was forced to wear a Jewish star. July 12, 1942 at 3 am was when soldiers took action. Her family walked miles until they finally reached a truck depot. Cecile’s father was lucky enough to convince a guard to let them stay together in the camp. Two days had went by, Cecile and her younger sister left to go to the hospital, with their mother. She was deathly ill with tuberculosis. When Kaufer left the camp that would have been the last time she would ever see her father and older sister. When Cecile’s mom got released from the hospital her little sister and her got to the chance of being set free. They were taken to a older childish catholic french woman. The woman was already hiding five other jewish children who had been in the same situation. Cecile was asked “ How does the Ve’lodrome d’Hiver Roundup on July 16, 1942 stand out from the entire Holocaust?” She replied “ To me, it marked the beginning. No one understood what was happening at that time. Thousands of people locked in that tremendous place. Every July, my stomach churns from the memory.” (Kelly,2012)
Paulette Stokfisz Bronstein was one of the persons arrested for being of the Jewish background and held in the Ve’l d'Hiv.
She wrote a series of increasingly despairing letters to her sister Nana. She asked her to look after her children, Jacques and Raymond. One of her letters had said word for word “ I beg you, Nana to accept them, Jacques can look after himself. They won't bother you.” Another she had written had read “ Dear Nana, go to my flat and take everything. I give it all to you. There is some money and Jewels, keep them. I beg you, have pity on my children i think this is my last
letter.”
French president apologized in 1995 “ for the complicit role the french policemen and civil servants served in the raid.” (The Holocaust)
In conclusion the Ve’lodrome d’Hiver Roundup which occurred in Paris by the french police on July 16, 1942 was a raid and a mass arrest of Jews in Paris. The roundup was attempt aimed at reducing the jewish population. Not very many people had survived the awful unthinkable things that happened during the Holocaust. The very few people who made it through the unthinkable things are very brave people to have gone through what they seen and lived. Looking back at the way things use to be compared to now i am very thankful that America is a free country. Those victims who were forced to live through that have every bit of my respect. If things like the Holocaust never happened then who knows where the world would be today. Being Jewish is something to be proud of, its not something to hide.