Pitchipoï’s 4051

Content : Monday, 20 July 1942

"— Where are all these people coming from? Who are they? I asked.

— They’re all Jews. They were rounded up on 16 and 17 July in Paris and held for five or six days in the Vélodrome d’Hiver. I was there.

— You were there! I exclaimed.

— Yes. It was horrible! Over 8,000 people, mostly women and children, crammed into the stands in unbearable heat, with only three or four doctors and a handful of nurses to care for the sick. When I learned they were going to be transferred to Pithiviers and Beaune-la-Rolande, about twenty kilometres from here, I came to prepare for their arrival.

— Why were they arrested?

— Because they are Jews. For years, the German Nazis have been persecuting Jews in Germany, Poland, and all the countries they occupy."

Discover the heartbreaking story of the 4,051 children of Pitchipoï through the testimony of nineteen-year-old Marie-Louise, a trainee social worker at the Pithiviers camp during the summer of 1942.

Award:
Prix Real 2024.