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Homes as Witnesses of the Holocaust: The Parisian Jews and their Neighbors

The Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, along with the Alliance Program and the French Department, invites you to join us for a book talk with Sarah Gensburger commemorating Yom HaShoah on Wednesday, April 23, at noon. This talk, titled “Homes as Witnesses of the Holocaust: The Parisian Jews and their neighbors (1940-1946),” will be held as a hybrid event. Please register here to attend in person. If you would like to attend virtually, please click here.

In 1940, Paris was home to some 200,000 Jews of whom 40,000 will be deported or shot by the end of the war. The rest survived by moving to the south of France or moving to hiding places in the city. After the Liberation of Paris, at the end of August 1944, however, these survivors found their tenements emptied of their possessions and occupied by new families. Most were unable to reclaim their home.

Indeed, the restored French Republic chose to sacrifice the rights of Jewish tenants in order to appease a Parisian population that, during the Occupation, had taken advantage of the absence of Jewish families to solve a long-standing housing crisis exacerbated by the war. Based on ten years of research and the analysis of numerous unpublished archives, with her two colleagues, Sarah Gensburger highlighted the ways in which the City of Paris, landlords, trustees, neighbors and prospective tenants took an interest in the persecution of Jews. This forgotten chapter of the history of the Holocaust in France invites us to reconsider the historiography that has been developing in recent years and praises the supposed solidarity of Parisians with the Jews as opposed to the attitude of the French state and administration. Considering homes as witnesses highlights, on the contrary, how the policies of persecution and the attitude of the population reinforced each other explaining why the Holocaust could take place in Paris where no ghettos ever existed. Until today, this spoliation has been forgotten and never repaired.











When: Wed., Apr. 23, 2025 at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Where: Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, Columbia University
511 Fayerweather Hall, 1180 Amsterdam Ave.
212-854-2581
Price: Free
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The Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, along with the Alliance Program and the French Department, invites you to join us for a book talk with Sarah Gensburger commemorating Yom HaShoah on Wednesday, April 23, at noon. This talk, titled “Homes as Witnesses of the Holocaust: The Parisian Jews and their neighbors (1940-1946),” will be held as a hybrid event. Please register here to attend in person. If you would like to attend virtually, please click here.

In 1940, Paris was home to some 200,000 Jews of whom 40,000 will be deported or shot by the end of the war. The rest survived by moving to the south of France or moving to hiding places in the city. After the Liberation of Paris, at the end of August 1944, however, these survivors found their tenements emptied of their possessions and occupied by new families. Most were unable to reclaim their home.

Indeed, the restored French Republic chose to sacrifice the rights of Jewish tenants in order to appease a Parisian population that, during the Occupation, had taken advantage of the absence of Jewish families to solve a long-standing housing crisis exacerbated by the war. Based on ten years of research and the analysis of numerous unpublished archives, with her two colleagues, Sarah Gensburger highlighted the ways in which the City of Paris, landlords, trustees, neighbors and prospective tenants took an interest in the persecution of Jews. This forgotten chapter of the history of the Holocaust in France invites us to reconsider the historiography that has been developing in recent years and praises the supposed solidarity of Parisians with the Jews as opposed to the attitude of the French state and administration. Considering homes as witnesses highlights, on the contrary, how the policies of persecution and the attitude of the population reinforced each other explaining why the Holocaust could take place in Paris where no ghettos ever existed. Until today, this spoliation has been forgotten and never repaired.

Buy tickets/get more info now