STATE ANTI-SEMITISM:TESTIMONY

Additional information regarding

the survey on the European Anti-Semitism

Testimony

Period: Spring 1970

Place: University of Sciences of Jussieu in Paris, France

Context: Demonstration in favour of a progress’s current‘s leader

Events:

Arrest by the French Police of around very young 30 Sephardic Jews Students including me meanwhile all other students were left free. We were called Arab-Jews by the French policemen as an insult. I said that this was an anti-Semitic Police raid and a few students told me as in the war time not to say a word. We were transported us to the Police Center of Beaujon in Paris where Police took our fingers print and picture of us front and side with a registration number as we were delinquents.

We were maintained in kind of big cages during approximately 5 hours and were finally freed since nothing might have been reproached to us except to be Jews wanting to benefit of our citizen rights.

Conclusion:

For me this was an anti-Semitic French Police raid similar to those which took place under the Vichy’s regime during the war. Fortunately for us the war was finished.

After such events it seemed to me to be more prudent to change my family name into a Christian name and to try to immigrate to USA or Israel as many European Jews did.

This attitude was inexcusable since the European Anti-Semitism already reached its target by reducing the number of Jews in Europe from 70% of the Jewish population before the war to 12% after the war.

 

Didier BERTIN

25 April 2010