Paris Shoah Memorial and Museum
These are a few pictures from our trip to Paris from July 6-16th. Once we were checked into the Rochester Hotel-Champs-Élysées, and were given a small orientation walk of our immediate neighborhood by our tour representative, we were on our own for three days before the river cruise from Paris to the Normandy Beaches. Our first stop, a little later, was to take the Metro to the Shoah Memorial where I had an appointment with Noemie Hetzel. She is the head of the research and reading library at the Museum. We had been corresponding. When we arrived at our stop on the Metro at St. Paul, the beginning of the Le Marais district, I was not quite sure in finding the street to take us to the building. Deborah asked a man who was walking by if he could give us directions on the map. He was an Orthodox Jewish man and told Deborah to get me. I was speaking with someone in a shop. He introduced himself, after calling me Yosef, as “Amon Ben Yosef” and he walked us the 4 blocks to the Memorial. My wife commented to him, “This was the providence of God. “He responded by saying, “Anytime you see a Jew walking on the street … it is the providence of God.” Deborah said, ” And His mercy.” to which he replied, “and that too.” Noemie commented that it was very different to see a biography with history, pictures of art and poetry as well as the life story and that it would be a unique addition to the library. Two special exhibitions were in progress; one on Klaus Barbie and the other presenting The Holocaust in Comics, which was fascinating. The picture of the lady is Simone Veil, who had just passed away before we arrived. She was 89 and a Holocaust survivor who became a remoned social activist in France.It is interesting to note that there are various plaques and sculptures in parts of Paris where the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup and deportations took place. I had many opportunities on our trip to have conversations about the Holocaust, with folks from the states and UK.
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