Les juifs ? C'est pas nous !

On July 16th and 17th, 1942, nearly 7,000 policemen under orders from the Vichy regime and Marshal Pétain hunted foreign or stateless Jews in the Paris region.

• More than 13,000 people arrested in two days, including 4,000 children and 6,000 women • 8,000 taken to the Vélodrome d'Hiver where they waited almost five days with minimal food and water • Some committed suicide due to desperation, others were shot attempting escape

Prisoners were deported to transit camps like Drancy and then to Auschwitz where gas chambers were used to kill them.

The tragedy is still invoked by politicians to revive campaign narratives, including statements by Marine Le Pen.

Marine Le Pen acknowledged the Vel d'Hiv but argued France was not responsible, claiming Vichy's government was not the true Republican France.

• Vichy negotiated directly with the 3rd Reich on the number of Jews to deliver • The French government gave specific orders for capture and transfer to French policemen • The French state is guilty of participating in this project and Pétain's implication is undeniable

Le Pen claimed Republican France took refuge in London with De Gaulle, therefore the real French government was not implicated in the tragedy.

This reasoning attempts to separate modern France from historical responsibility by distinguishing between Vichy and the Republic, making France appear unimplicated.

After the war, most French politicians shared Marine Le Pen's view that it was Vichy, not the Republic or France, that should be blamed.

• De Gaulle believed the Republic was not implicated • Philippe Séguin (1997): France, made helpless, could not be held accountable for its leaders' mistakes • Robert Badinter (1992): The Republic is not responsible for crimes committed by Vichy's men • François Mitterrand (1992): Vichy was the state in 1940, not the Republic; only Vichy is accountable, not France

All these leaders rejected the idea that Republican France should apologize or accept responsibility for Vichy's actions.

After the war, it was understandable for the new Republic and De Gaulle's followers to emphasize the resisting France as a positive basis for rebuilding the country.

• Vichy's government did represent France and led the country • French people, not Germans, deported the Jews • France cooperated voluntarily in this process

Assuming historical responsibility is not about self-berating but about acknowledging the past publicly, understanding what happened, and ensuring such mistakes are not repeated.

• Jacques Chirac in 1995 was the first French president to publicly acknowledge France's responsibility • François Hollande followed in accepting this responsibility

World War 2 France belongs to both De Gaulle and Pétain; it is a collective history that must be assumed, which France has done for nearly 20 years.

The binary vision of an all-resisting France occulted actual history and served ideologies rather than reflecting reality.

• We are here to understand and figure out right from wrong, not to judge • Vichy's government was France; it led the country • It is easy to deny parts of history to support our ideology

Historians have studied these periods for about twenty years and have clearly established the responsibilities of everyone involved; their work is the authoritative source.

• Historian Nicolas Lebourg noted that beyond 7,000 policemen in the raid, over 300 supporters of the Parti Populaire Français participated • The Parti Populaire Français was led by Victor Barthélémy, who 25 years later created the Front National • This represents a significant communication failure for Marine Le Pen