How does a country cope with shame? In July 1942 French police in occupied Paris carried out Operation Spring Breeze—arresting 13K Jews, including 4K children, who were detained in the Vélodrome d'Hiver (a cycling stadium), pending deportation to Auschwitz. Only a few survived.
1
15
1
25
After the war, many in France denied any culpability, claiming it was a Nazi operation. But in 1995 Pres. Chirac reversed this position, acknowledging the work of 450 French policemen, and issued a public apology: "These black hours will stain our history forever...
1
2
14
"France, home of the Enlightenment and the Declaration of the Rights of Man, land of welcome and asylum, France committed that day the irreparable. Breaking its word, it delivered those it protected to their executioners." In 2017 President Macron renewed this apology:
1
1
11
"It was indeed France that organized this roundup. Not a single German took part. It is convenient to see the Vichy regime as born of nothingness, returned to nothingness. Yes, it's convenient, but it is false. We cannot build pride upon a lie." Someday many many look back on

Sep 1, 2020 · 8:23 PM UTC

1
2
11
...our time and pretend that it was not we who put children in cages, called for Muslim bans, applauded those who marched under banners of hate--or that it was the work of a regime that was born of nothingness and returned to nothingness.
1
6
16
But we cannot build innocence upon a lie.
8
20