What happened to Jewish People living in France during

WW2Michael Dixon

France

• In 1940 the Germans invaded and occupied half of France and the part they did not own was called unoccupied France.

• The Germans lost their hold on France in 1944 and from then on the Germans went on to lose the war.

Jewish Discrimination

• In France the Jews were treated harshly by the Germans.

• A number of laws meant that the Jewish people had no freedom and were labelled with stars of David.

• Jews were bullied by the police force who would arrest them for doing nothing wrong.

Jewish Imprisonment

• When a Jew was arrested he would be taken to a massive village surrounded by armed guards were he could be kept until they moved him.

• These holding areas were called Ghettos.

• One of the largest was Drancy.

Drancy

• Drancy was a holding camp which then deported its captives to concentration camps to be murdered.

• 65,000 Jews were deported to Drancy– 63,000 of them were murdered– 6,000 of them were children– 2,000 of them survived Drancy when the Allies liberated

it.

17 km

Drancy Memorial

• What the Drancy memorial symbolises:– 3 stone blocks make the hebrew letter SCHIN. – The two lateral blocks symbolize the Gate of Death. – The central block features 10 people - the required

number for prayer.A man and a woman in the foreground stand for Suffering and Dignity Two overturned heads at the bottom symbolize death.

– Two flights of 7 narrowing steps lead to the Gate of Death. They symbolize the ascent of the victims' souls.

Drancy Memorial