PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron will lead a ceremony on Sunday to commemorate 80 years since Nazi forces raided a Jewish orphanage in the southeast of France and deported almost all its occupants to extermination camps.
The ceremony, held in the village of Izieu, will be attended by a handful of former residents of the orphanage. Macron is overseeing this event as part of a series of commemorations marking eight decades since the pivotal year of World War II.
On April 6, 1944, Gestapo agents, acting on the orders of Klaus Barbie, known as the “Butcher of Lyon,” rounded up 44 Jewish children aged four to 12 and their seven instructors from the orphanage. The children and most of the instructors were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland or Reval in Estonia, where they perished. Only one instructor survived.
Before the raid, Izieu had been a sanctuary where children could live among friends, attend classes, and enjoy walks, recalled Roger Wolman, now 85, who left the orphanage in 1943.
The Izieu colony was established by Sabine Zlatin, a Jewish resistance fighter of Polish origin, and provided refuge to around 100 children whose parents had been deported. It remained relatively undisturbed until the tragic events of April 1944.
Macron’s participation underscores the commitment to honor those who resisted Nazism and brought perpetrators like Klaus Barbie to justice. The commemorations also highlight the sacrifices of French resistance fighters, including those at Glieres, an important hub for anti-Nazi activities during World War II.
The upcoming ceremonies will culminate in the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings (D-Day) in June and the commemoration of the liberation of Paris in August 1944.
