The Holocaust: Parisian Jewish Children

(Memorial marker at one of the children's play areas in Parc Buttes Chaumont in memory of the children who lived nearby, played in the park, and perished in the Holocaust.  33 names are listed.)

Yesterday, June 25, I attended a day-long seminar about the Parisian children who were deported and/or saved during the Shoah (Holocaust).  The event was hosted by the city government and held at the historic Hotel de Ville where today opens an exhibit on the subject http://www.paris.fr/accueil/accueil-paris-fr/que-sont-devenus-les-enfants-caches-pendant-la-guerre/rub_1_actu_116383_port_24329.

The title of the day's event was "Les rafles de juillet 1942" or The roundups (of Jews) of July 1942. There were scholars who talked about how the French government collaborated with the Nazis to roundup and deport the Jews of Paris, as well as the rest of France. Unlike many places where the Germans did the dirty work, here the French police actually arrested and sent their own neighbors and citizens to death. Beginning on May 14, 1941 the French police started rounding up foreign Jews, assuring the French nationals that they were only interested in deporting the immigrants. These raids continued sporadically until July 16-17, 1942 when some 4500 police arrested 3118 men, 5119 women, and 4115 Jewish children and imprisoned them at the huge stadium Vélodrome d'Hiver http://www.massviolence.org/the-vel-d-hiv-round-up?artpage=2-8 or http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafle_du_V%C3%A9lodrome_d%27Hiver , no longer in existence. That day when the police arrived at people's homes they gave them a few minutes to pack some things, telling them they would need a little food but wouldn't be gone long. Once at the Vél' d'Hiv' people were left without food, water, or sanitary facilities for days while they awaited transfer to concentration camps. The heat was suffocating and the scene was indescribably inhuman. After days, the children were separated from their mothers and most sent to either Pithiviers Camp or Beaune-la-Rolande Camp in France to await their final deportation to Birkenau. Most of the parents had already been sent to Auschwitz. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp

Amidst the horror of that historical event and among the monsters who perpetrated and prolonged it, there are the most incredible stories of courage, heroism, generosity and humanitarianism. Three of the speakers at the event had survived the Rafle and each story was unique and amazing in and of itself. The first survivor is the father of a friend, Marcel Weltman. He was 10 years old when his father, mother, sister and himself were taken to the Vélodrome. After three days, his mother, desperate to save her children, took them to the onsite doctor and told him the 2 children had the measles and needed to get to a hospital as soon as possible. This doctor was obviously trying to save as many as he could so he had the children sent out to a hospital where they were helped into safe places and eventually adopted, brother and sister together, by a Frenchman, M. Aron . The second survivor, a woman named Sarah Montard, had been 14 at the time she and her mother were taken to the VdH. The mother had told her to go behind the police to escape and had given her instructions to get to a friend's house who would help her. She managed to get to the subway and there met her mother on one of the metro platforms. The friend helped them to get fake ID papers and for 2 years they were able to escape capture until a person in their apartment building turned them in. Both mother and daughter ended up being deported to Auschwitz but she survived the camp situation and now regularly talks to groups, especially youth, about her experiences. The third survivor,  a woman named Annette Muller, was sent to the Beaune-la-Rolande camp with another sibling but her father had a skill the Nazis needed so he didn't get deported. Evidently, he was able to pay their way out of the camp but it had been too late for their mother who died. These children were then taken in by some nuns at a convent who cared for and protected them until the end of the war.

I live in a neighborhood that was mentioned throughout the program because it is an old Jewish neighborhood. All our schools, several buildings and even Parc des Buttes Chaumont have markers reminding the contemporary world of the children, neighbors, fellow human beings who lost their lives to the wicked evils of hatred and racism. Hopefully, these markers will serve their purpose and all future generations will know and remember.

Living in Paris, I enter the subway, known as the Metro, on a regular basis. When I first moved here I vowed to find ways to avoid going into any of the numerous gateways to Paris' underground system of trains. Subways have always reminded me of the ant farms some kids had when I was younger, a series of tunnels with lines of creatures moving from one place to another. I really detested the idea of joining the swarms of people running and crammed into the train cars that carry them to unknown destinations. But low and behold, the time constraints of waiting for a bus, transferring several times and then additional walking to reach a place, have helped me to form a new attitude about "going on the metro". So, every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings, plus many other times during any given week, I follow others entering from every direction. It's quite liberating to live without a car, especially in a place where traffic is always jammed, vehicles disregard the lines drawn on the pavement that separate lanes, everyone is in a hurry, round-a-bouts are as common as traffic lights, and there are motorcycles constantly squeezing between lanes to get a head of the line. Vive le metro de Paris!!!  http://www.ratp.fr/fr/ratp/c_23590/plans-metro/

Arles, France

In 2010, I had the good fortune to be able to visit Arles which is a small town in the southern part of Provence. It sits at the convergence of the large and small Rhone Rivers inland a bit on the northern Mediterranean Sea. I was expecting warm temps since I have an image of the Mediterranean being forever warm, but it was far from warm. It's been a very cold and unusual winter so Arles actually had some remnants of snow scattered about. The wind was very strong so it felt a lot colder than I'm sure it was.

Arles is a UNESCO World Heritage site so I spent 2 plus days exploring Roman and Medieval ruins, viewing artwork, and relaxing in the hotel in the heart of the old city. This town has Greek and Roman pasts with the Romans leaving marble footprints, some of which are not only still visible but still in use today. Julius Cesar is noted as founding Arles as a Roman colony around 49 BC. The city's two most famous Roman ruins are the Roman amphitheatre where they staged the infamous sporting events with wild animals and gladiators and chariot races and the Theatre Antique seen here on the left which was a huge complex for drama. Today, the city hosts bullfights in the amphitheatre, while the Theatre Antique is being restored to some of its previous grandeur with future plans to use it as it once was. Below the Place de la Republique is the enormous Les Cryptoportiques from the 1st century that served as a storage place for agricultural products and wine as well as for other public needs. As I walked under the perfectly formed barrel-shaped ceilings I couldn't help but to marvel at Roman engineering. There are also remnants of the Roman baths where the entire population, rich and poor, would go to bath every evening. These are located very close to the Rhone as an obvious source of water. Medieval churches and cloisters seem to be around every corner and the winding, narrow, maze-like streets give one the feel of what life had been like during the Middle Ages. Much, much later Van Gogh lived here and found inspiration in the light and colors of the town

Festival Onze Bouge

This week there has been a wonderful performance arts festival in Paris, Festival Onze Bouge http://www.festivalonze.org/, with multiple offerings almost everyday and completely free of change. Paris has many arts events during the year that give everyone the opportunity to see and/or participate in activities without charge. For instance, on the first Sunday of every month all the art museums are free to the public. I love living in such an egalitarian city!

On Wednesday evening we attended a presentation of two types of dance: contemporary dance and Hip-Hop. The first by a duo, CIE ADEQUATE, was called Boeuds and about the relationship between the two. It was well done and luckily we got to the outdoor location in time to get a seat whereas those who came later were obliged to sit on tarps on the ground in front of the stage. The second group, Pro Phenomen, performed a very interesting Hip-Hop piece that highlighted the performers' individual athleticism and group's creativity. Living in Paris one gets to see lots of Hip-Hop at various public locations but this was well choreographed and polished, unlike the street performances. However, after the first couple of songs the movements seemed repetitious, the lighting a bit too dark in the evening twilight and the music blasting to the extent that I stuffed tissue into my ears to avoid permanent damage. Maybe the latter is a sign of aging but I really cannot bear music so loud that the sound waves are beating against my chest. The evening was also much cooler than I had anticipated so I was feeling a bit under dressed and by the end of their performance I was anxious to get back home.

The second event we attended was a play on Thursday night at an auditorium close to the cemetery Pére LaChaise. This was a comedic musical interpretation of Les Misérables called Les Miséreuse where four performers played 20 different characters and they took popular songs like Hey Jude and did parodies to fit the subject matter. This was quite hilarious where the main characters Jean Valjean and the policeman even ended up kissing as lovers. Although it's difficult for me to understand all of anything I hear in French, I knew the story and could get the gist of most of it. It was really quite fun.

The French Open

Each year at the end of May/beginning of June Roland-Garros, Paris' famous tennis stadium located in its largest park Bois de Boulogne, hosts the French Open.  Roland-Garros has a noteworthy history starting in 1928, continuing today as it produces one of the Grand Slams four major events of the year. (Find our more about the stadium at http://www.rolandgarros.com/en_FR/about/history/index.html ) Visitors can pay to tour the place when its not in use which is quite interesting.

During the first rounds last week the weather was gorgeous and friends from the States wrote to say they could see how fabulous Paris was at the moment. That all changed this week as the players are getting fewer through play elimination; I am currently watching the quarter final rounds. As in the US, here TV coverage favors the men's matches over the women's. Just as a match with women gets going they switch to a larger, more populated court to show a match between two men. I enjoy seeing both but would like to see the women at least receive equal time so I can see a complete match through to the end.

Today the last American woman was defeated by a Russian player and there are no American men left in the tournament. I had gotten so used to seeing one or both of the Williams sisters in the final matches that I realized the passing of another generation of players, sort of like when Martina and Chris quit showing up. It is nice to see all the new players though and they seem to be much fitter and more skilled at earlier and earlier ages. I think we can credit Martina for that, at least as far as the women players are concerned.

The city has a giant screen set up outdoors at the Hotel de Ville (City Hall) in the heart of Paris where one can watch some of the major matches in a festive, fun atmosphere. Each year I say that I'll make it out to Roland-Garros to see the action in person, one day I will!

Political Campaign in France

Anyone who has survived the tortuous political campaigns in the US would take great relief in being in France in the same year that both countries are electing their next presidents. During my recent trip to the States in February I couldn't help but to notice the numerous TV adds related to one or the other candidate already on air, also note that I watched probably less than one hour of TV during my entire 3 week stay. It occurred to me upon return to Paris that the elections here are scheduled for 22 April for the first round when the top two contenders will be determined and I believe 6 May is the final voting for the official president and yet I had not seen or heard one political advertisement on the TV or radio and have seen very few signs about in the streets. So, of course, I was wondering with so little time left when the barrage of attacks would begin. Well, today I found the answer, it won't really happen at all.....WHAT? you might ask! Well, according to various news sources yesterday, Monday, 9 April was the official day for the French political campaign to begin. Placed before each school and local government building are metal panels upon which each of the candidates is allowed to post their information. They may have 2 posters, each with specific dimensions, not on white paper that is reserved for official/administrative information only, and with no color combination using white, blue and red (colors of the French flag) except if those are used within the emblem of the specific political party. One of the posters is to spell out the information of events when the candidates will be speaking and the other may have their photo, name and party affiliation. As for TV and radio, each candidate may use 20 minutes of air time (cumulative) between now and the 22 April but each candidate MUST be allowed exactly the same amount, no more no less. With this limitation, ads are short and they can't be shown very often in order not to use all of the 20 minutes, I expect the barrage will come the last week before the election. The media may report stories about candidates but may not endorse any one candidate over the other. There will be a couple of debates but it is the only extra air time the candidates will get and that is important that each candidate get equal time answering questions so they cannot try to challenge one another as it will take time away from the others. There are no restrictions on the internet. It is prohibited for polls and predictions about the winners to be released or talked about for days leading up to as well as on the night of the elections. Countries outside the border will likely be doing this but it won't be happening in France. One can see that these types of limitations really forces the electorate to read, discuss, attend rallies, and seek out the information from the candidates rather than to depend on sound bites and tidbit of information that might be presented by the opposition. There must also be some type of restriction on saying things that are untrue about the other candidates as the current president sued one of his opponents in the last election for lying about him. He lost his argument and is now running for a second term....all fingers are crossed that he does not gain a second term in office. All in all though I really appreciate the way the French go about electing their president and feel that the US is losing its democratic process.

Free Events in Paris

I wrote a post last night and came back today to edit before posting but had not saved so it's all lost! Oh hum, I'll try again...

Paris, being a huge city, has tons of events to offer visitors and residents, some of which are free. We  decided over the past couple of weeks to check out some of the free events to see if they were worth the time spent. First, I registered on a website that offers free events in all categories from cinema and theater to sports and clubbing. I was surprised to see all the opportunities there were so tried to get tickets to a couple of movies to no avail. Then I tried the play section and scored tickets for 3 theater performances however there was only one that I would have paid the price to see. The first, Cabaret Les Chiche Capo at the  La Pépinière opéra, 7, rue Louis Le Grand, 75002 Paris, was a wacky male four-some, 3 actors plus a guitarist, who did an hour slap-stick routine. There was a female plant in the audience who created such laughter that she was almost better than those on stage. It was fun and even though I couldn't understand much of the spoken part, I enjoyed it. The second, Francisco E Cuhna at La Comédie des Boulevards, was a one-man show where he pretended to be in a therapy group with the audience members. There were a few funny moments but on the whole it was not really as funny as it could have been, according to the two French speakers who accompanied me. The third was the best, Amour et Chipolatas at La comédie Caumartin, 25, rue Caumartin, 75009 Paris, was about a young woman who was going to get married so she had a BBQ to introduce her fiancé to three of her ex-lovers. None of the men knew each other nor did they know what she had planned to announce. Two of the ex-lovers were still in love with her, the other was now gay, and her fiancé was completely jealous of the others, especially the non-gay ones. As one would imagine it was full of laughs and ridiculous male posturing. Again, my limited French was challenged but I understood most of it from the antics on stage.

 Then on Thursday I bought Parischope, a weekly publication Wed to Wed, that gives information on all the cultural events in the city and beyond. Here one finds schedules for all the movies, exhibits, performances, etc. Since we had been to 3 recent plays we found two free performances of music that sounded interesting. On Friday night we went to hear a quartet (2 violins, cello and piano) at the Auditorium St. Germaine des Prés at 8pm. It was Hommage à René Herbin but the first half was the music of Gabriel Fauré whose music I really loved. Although I wasn't familiar with either of these French composers, I was immediately drawn in to their elegant, mesmerizing compositions. I must also add that the auditorium was warm, comfortable (both surprising as we had expected it to be in a church which usually means no heat) and the musicians were all very accomplished. This was also the first time, I think, I've ever heard an all female quartet! It was exquisite!

Then on Saturday we decided to get into the spirit of the upcoming holidays and chose Ensemble Vocal Bergamasque, a concert of world Christmas music by Britten, Poulenc, Kvemo, Nystedt and others. The event was held in an ancient church, Eglise des Billetes, on the famous rue des Archives near Hôtel de Ville. The female director would hit a pitch fork against the side of her hand, move it quickly to her ear, hum out several notes for the 24-member vocal ensemble to grasp before singing each song a-cappella. Crystal clear soprano notes blended in perfect harmonies with the altos, ténors and basses filling the stone structure. For one piece the singers spread throughout the church directing their voices to the center of the room where they met and danced to the top of the dome before descending as soft as snow flakes to the ears of the pensive audience. I was brought to tears during this piece and left the concert feeling as uplifted as the angelic voices with which I had been graced.