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deported. Large numbers of them, perhaps 1,000, were
sent to the East on convoys from Drancy and Pithiviers on September 18 and 21,
1942. French police and officials had closed their eyes to these deportations
so that the SS could fill the waiting transports. And, of course, many of the
adults and children deported since August were French.)
January 25,
1943. Eichmann's aide, Gunther, replies that freight cars will be made
available for the Jews now at Drancy and that there is no objection to the
deportation of French Jews as long as this conforms to policy governing the
evacuation of Jews from France.
February 9, 1943. The first
convoy after a three-month break leaves the
Le Bourget-Drancy station for Auschwitz with 1,000 Jews, 80 of them French
citizens; 126 are children, some as young as two years old. On arrival at
Auschwitz two days later, 77 men and 92 women are selected for work and all the
other adults and children are gassed and cremated.
Despite the repeated
deportations of French Jews, the question of whether they will be deported is
still being debated and threatens to create problems with the French police.
Informed by Röthke that 1,000 French Jews will be sent off on
February 13, Police Prefecture officials
Jean François and André Tulard propose in a morning meeting on
February 9 that there is still time to arrest enough stateless Jews to fill the
convoy. Röthke accepts the idea and orders raids launched to accomplish
it.
February 10-12, 1943. The roundup of stateless Jews takes
place the night of February 10-11 beginning at 11 P.M. and continues until
February 12. Five categories are exempt from these raids:
1. Jews of Turkish, Hungarian, Italian,
Spanish, Portuguese, Anglo-Saxon, and Swiss nationalities.
2. All foreign
Jews whose spouses are Aryans or of one of the exempt nationalities.
3.
Those possessing an ausweiss (pass) issued by the German occupation
authorities or a UGIF pass.
4. Ill, blind, or paralyzed persons not
transportable.
5. Mothers of children under two years of age and the
children themselves.
The question of French police cooperation
in deportations of French Jews continues to be argued and ends with French
acquiescence on February 10. François and Tulard return to Röthke's
office at 4 P.M., accompanied this time by Thomas Sauts, staff chief to Leguay,
Bousquet's delegate in the Occupied Zone. Sauts informs the group that Bousquet
insists there is as yet no Franco-German agreement for deportation of French
Jews and that "he could not accept French police participation in the transfer
of these Jews as long as this question remains unresolved. Moreover, Sauts
declared that from Bousquet's point of view the Germans could deport all the
Jews of French nationality at Drancy, but French police could not take part in
this action."
The French minutes of the meeting assert that "the
Prefect of Police, following the instructions of M. Leguay, had given orders
for the French police not to participate in any way in the escorting or
transfer of French Jews."
Röthke, after referring the matter to
Knochen, informs the French police officials that the transport planned for
February 13 will proceed no matter what happens: "the neces […sary]
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FRENCH
CHILDREN OF THE HOLOCAUST A memorial
Serge Klarsfeld
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