A Journey in Jewish History by Matterhorn Travel / 2012
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Jews have been in France since Roman Times. In these early days Jewish settlers lived in France (Gaul) as Roman citizens.
From the Middle Ages until the 20th century, the Jews of France were not a homogenous population. In Alsace-Lorraine they were Ashkenazi. In the South of France they were Sephardic — refugees from the expulsions of Spain and Portugal. Paris was a melting pot of both traditions.
Today, with a population of some 500,000 Jews, France
has the largest Jewish population in Europe, and the third largest Jewish Population in the World, after Israel and the United States.
During the 2,000 years between Roman times and today, the history of the Jews in France has been a roller coaster of — in the words of Charles Dickens — “The best of times,
the worst of times.”
After centuries of tolerance during the rule of the Romans, and the Emperor Charlemagne, Jewish life turned bad during the crusades and the 14th century plague of the Black Death. Beginning in 1306, French kings expelled the Jews from France, off and on. To a degree the Jews were protected by the Popes. The 18th century Enlightenment and Revolution of 1789 greatly benefited the Jews of France. In 1791 France was the first country in Europe to emancipate its Jews and make them full citizens. But conditions worsened in the late 19th century with the arrival of racial anti-Semitism, supplementing the traditional anti-Semitism of church theology. The 20th century brought the destruction in 1914–1918 of the French and European civilization that had existed largely in peace for almost 100 years – followed by the Nazi and Fascist ascendancy, World War II, and the Holocaust catastrophe for French and European Jews.
The Fascist, anti-Semitic government at Vichy openly helped the Nazi war against the Jews. Vichy police rounded up about 75,000 Jews, including 11,000 children, for deportation from France to the Nazi extermination camps
in Poland.
The Jews of France, therefore, had two enemies – the Nazis and the Fascist government at Vichy.
After decades of silence and denial following World War II, the French Republic in 1995 publicly acknowledged the
role of the State in the persecution and murder of the
Jews during the Nazi occupation. President Jacques
Chirac declared
“These black hours will stain our history forever and are an injury to our past and traditions. Yes, the criminal madness of the occupant was assisted by the French, by the French State.”
Was French society anti-Semitic? Although anti-Semitism was widespread in pre-war and Vichy France, it was not all-pervasive. It would be unreasonable and unfair to condemn an entire people for the evil committed by a rogue, puppet regime.
Until World War II, French Jews were largely Ashkenazim. But many French Ashkenazim were murdered in the Holocaust, and, with the post war migration of Jews from North Africa to France, the Jewish population in France today is mostly Sephardic.
Our journey in 2012 will trace this long history of the Jews of France. Our main emphasis will be on the modern era, beginning with the Revolution of 1789.
Although our trip may not convey all the answers, it will bring to us a greater understanding of this saga, and provide an enjoyable, enriching experience.
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Round trip transatlantic flights
superior hotels
Buffet breakfast each day
Walking tour of Jewish Paris Jewish sites in Paris
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Fly this afternoon from your departure city to Paris. Cocktails, dinner and continental breakfast will be served in flight. There is also a movie for your in-flight enjoyment..
Arrive Paris in the morning, local time. Upon arrival, you will be met and transferred to your hotel.
Our hotel, The Regina, is centrally located at the Place des Pyramides and just a few minutes walk to the Louvre, the Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, and Place Vendome.
The balance of the morning is at leisure.
As an introduction and overview of our journey of Jewish learning, we will visit this afternoon the Museum of Jewish Art and History, opened in 1998. Located in a 17th century mansion, the Museum traces Jewish history, art, culture and religion in France and Europe. Exhibits of French history reflect both the Ashkenazi and Sephardic traditions. Also on display are documents relating to the Dreyfus Affair, which tore apart French Society between 1894 and 1906, and which contributed to the anti-Semitism of the Fascist Vichy regime during the Nazi occupation.
Dinner this evening is at a popular Paris restaurant.
This morning we will have a walking tour of Jewish Paris — pre-war and post-war.
Our first visit will be to the Memorial to the Martyrs of the Deportation — a memorial to the 200,000 persons deported from Vichy France to the Nazi concentration camps. About 75,000 of the deportees were Jews. Dedicated in 1962 by President De Gaulle, the memorial instructs the visitor to “Forgive but do not forget.”
Next, we will walk across the bridge to the Right Bank and visit the Shoah Memorial Museum and Documentation Center, opened in 2005.
The permanent exhibition offers a chronological and thematic visit depicting the history of Jews in France during the Shoah. The Wall of Names lists the names of the 75,000 Jews, including 11,000 children, deported from France by the Vichy Government. The Wall of the Righteous is engraved with the names of persons who rescued Jews in France during World War II. Since 1963, Yad Vashem has awarded these persons with the title Righteous Among the Nations.
Departing the Museum, we are now in the Jewish Quarter of Paris, known as Le Marais, or the Pletzl — Yiddish for little place. This neighborhood has been home to Jews since the 13th century.
We will walk on the Rue des Rosiers, a narrow, ancient street lined with kosher and Jewish-style restaurants, Jewish bookshops, small synagogues, prayer rooms and kosher bakeries and butcher shops. Continue on the Rue Ferdinand Duval, called the Street of Jews until 1900.
Sabbath dinner this evening will be at our hotel.
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| Le Marais in 1942. Note the Star of David on the man’s jacket. We will walk in the Marais neighborhood. |
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| The Shoah Memorial at Drancy by Shlomo Selinger. |
This morning is at leisure to attend Sabbath services, to sightsee, or to visit a museum.
This afternoon we will visit the site of the former Drancy Internment Camp. The camp was used to hold Jews who were later deported to the Nazi extermination camps in Poland. Drancy was under the control of the French police until July 1943 when management was taken over by the SS. About 65,000 Jews were departed from Drancy.
In 2001 the French Government declared the site a National Monument.
This evening is at leisure to sample a Paris restaurant on your own.
We have thus far looked largely at the dark, evil years of French and European history. But there was push back in Western Europe against Nazism and Fascism — led by the United States, assisted by Great Britain, and helped by the Resistance of patriots in France.
Today we travel via motorcoach to Normandy and trace the largest event of the push back in the West — the D-Day landings on the beaches at Normandy. We will visit the American sites.
World War II was the largest event in human history. The victory of the Allies against Nazi Germany saved the Jews of Europe from complete annihilation. The allied landings at Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944 — the largest invasion from the sea in world history — were a major turning point in the war.
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| Normandy American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach. |
“In this column I want to tell you what the opening
of the second front entailed, so that you can know
and appreciate and forever be humbly grateful
to those both dead and alive who did it for you.”
—Ernie Pyle, June 12, 1944.
We will walk on Omaha Beach and visit the cemetery overlooking the beach, where more than 9,000 Americans are buried. The many gravestones showing the Stars of David amidst the crosses attest to the Jewish presence among our soldiers of the Greatest Generation.
We will also visit Pointe Du Hoc, Ste. Mère Eglise, and
Utah Beach, as well as the Memorial Museum at Caen.
We will stop for dinner in Rouen and return to our hotel in Paris this evening.
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| American troops landing at Omaha Beach, June 6, 1944. |
Today we will take a late morning high speed train, first class, to Aix-en-Provence, arriving in the mid afternoon.
Founded by the Romans in 123 B.C., Aix even today is considered the most Italian of French towns.
Leaving the high speed train, we say au revoir to speed and enter in Aix a world of easy-going, laid back leisure, with numerous fountains casting their lazy spray. Many streets are pedestrian zones of mansions, gardens, and small peaceful squares. Emile Zola immortalized the
town in his novels. Paul Cezanne featured the region of Aix in many of his paintings.
In 1341, the census tells us that 1205 Jews lived in the Jewish quarter of Aix. In the rue Vivaut, a whole Jewish community was grouped together, including synagogue, butchershop, hospital, and alms house.
We will have a walking tour of Aix this afternoon, accompanied by a local guide.
Our hotel, the Grand Hotel Roi René, is just a few minutes walk to the Old Town of Aix.
Dinner this evening is at our hotel.
