How Did Jews Survive the Shoah in France?

Public lecture by historian Jacques Semelin on July 4, 2019 No 197/2019 from Jun 28, 2019 On July 4, 2019, historian Jacques Semelin will give a lecture on the survival of Jews in France during World War II. An Emeritus Research Director at the National Centre of Scientific Research in Paris, Semelin will describe how much of the Jewish population in France - estimated at 75 percent - managed to avoid arrest, deportation, and murder. Using numerous sources, most notably contemporary witness accounts and files from the archives of the Vichy government, Semelin relates life stories of persecuted individuals. He reconstructs their everyday lives and their survival strategies and relates gestures of common humanity extended by non-Jewish citizens of France under German occupation from 1940 to 1944. Historian Dieter Gosewinkel (Berlin Social Science Center, WBZ) will moderate the discussion in French. The public event was organized by the Center for French Studies at Freie Universität in cooperation with the Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin. Admission is free, no registration necessary.