Seventy Years Since the “Vel d’Hiv” Raid

Today, July 16, 2012 marks the 70th anniversary of France's infamous Vel d'Hiv raid in paris. The first raid that included Jewish women and children, over 13,000 Jewish people of Paris were rounded up by French police. The victims were transported to the Vélodrome d’Hiver stadium in terrible summer heat and had little food or water. Most were deported to internment camps elsewhere in France and finally to Auschwitz.

Learn a bit about Marcel Marceau’s heroic role with the French Resistance in this period with the children’s book Marcel Marceau by Gloria Spielman, and for adults, Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, France Under the Germans by Philippe Burrin, Not the Germans Alone: A Son's Search for the Truth of Vichy by Isaac Levendel, and The Holocaust, the French, and the Jews by Susan Zuccotti.

From Marcel Marceau: One day Marcel's cousin Georges, a leader of the Resistance, asked Marcel to lead a group of Jewish children to the Swiss border. It was a dangerous trip. Marcel was scared, but he hid his fear as he guided the children across the border into Switzerland and safety. Marcel made the trip several times, often dressing the children as boy scouts pretending to be on their way to camp.

It's Marcel Marceau's Birthday, and We're Giving Away a Gift!

It's Marcel Marceau's Birthday!

Let's celebrate with a book giveaway!

One lucky winner will receive a copy of Marcel Marceau, Master of Mime!

 

Leave a comment on this blog post or Tweet the post to win!

Winner selected on 3/23 at noon, Central time.

by Gloria Spielman
illustrated by Manon Gauthier
From the age of five, Marcel Marceau knew he wanted to be a silent actor, just like Charlie Chaplin. When World War II intervened, he joined the resistance, helping to get young Jews to safety during this dangerous time. But Marcel never forgot his dream of being a mime artist and entertaining the world.
A Sydney Taylor Notable Book
A National Jewish Book Award Finalist

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Who Do You Honor On Holocaust Remembrance Day?

This year Yad Vashem has created a special online "I Honor" event on their Facebook Page to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The virtual event connects people through Facebook to the name and story of a Righteous Among the Nations. People can also post to the Facebook wall and share the names of people they honor, well-known figures like Irena Sendler and others who may not have name recognition but whose intervention literally meant life and death for Jewish people attempting to escape Nazi persecution.

Remarkable courage by ordinary people is what was--and still is-- required to do the right thing in the face of injustice. A Kar-Ben book, Marcel Marceau, Master of Mime, recently named a National Jewish Book Award Finalist and Sydney Taylor Notable Book, honors the little known biography of the famed mime Marcel Marceau. Originally born Marcel Mangel, the son of a kosher butcher, he survived the Nazi occupation and actively aided others as a member of the French Resistance. A talented artist, he forged documents to make children appear younger than they were. He also led children across the border into Switzerland several times, posing as scout troops pretending to be on their way to camp. After Paris was liberated from the Nazis, Marcel joined the Free French Army and served as a liaison to the U.S. forces under General George Patton, all while holding fast to his dream to be a performer.

This International Holocaust Remembrance Day, with its focus on children in the Holocaust, we honor all those to acted righteously, for the reasons Marcel himself once explained:

“Among those kids [killed at Auschwitz] was maybe an Einstein, a Mozart, somebody who [would have] found a cancer drug. That is why we have a great responsibility. Let us love one another.”

Who do you honor on International Holocaust Remembrance Day?