A diverse Jewish population
French Jewry included long-established citizens, Jews from North Africa and large immigrant and refugee populations.
Vichy and occupation
Vichy enacted its own antisemitic statutes and interned Jews; French police participated in major roundups including the July 1942 Vélodrome d’Hiver roundup.
Drancy
Drancy became the principal transit camp, and most deportees from France were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Resistance and rescue
Jewish undergrounds, rural hiding, child rescue and escape routes to Switzerland and Spain contributed to survival.
Survival
About 76,000 Jews were deported; roughly three-quarters of French Jewry survived, a figure that requires explanation rather than simplification.
Sources
This page draws on the institutional sources listed below.