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.
