What happened at the Vél’ d’Hiv’ is a chilling reminder of the atrocities committed during World War II. Right here, where ordinary apartment buildings now stand, once stood the Vélodrome d’Hiver. In July 1942, this cycling track became a site of unimaginable suffering. The Vél’ d’Hiv’ Roundup, as it came to be known, was the largest mass arrest of Jews in France during the war. Imagine the terror of over 13,000 souls, many of them women and children, rounded up and imprisoned within these walls. The conditions at the Vél’ d’Hiv’ were horrendous. Thousands were crammed into the arena, with barely any space to move, let alone breathe. Food, water, and sanitation were almost non-existent. The summer heat beat down on the glass roof, turning the velodrome into an oven. The echoes of their despair, the cries of children separated from their parents, still seem to linger in the air. Most of those held at the Vél’ d’Hiv’, including over 4,000 innocent children, were deported to Auschwitz. Few would ever return. The Vél’ d’Hiv’ stands as a stark reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust. And a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable cruelty.
Église Notre-Dame de l’Air
Beneath what appears to be a simple stone and wood structure lies a history interwoven with faith aviation and community.