Deportations Throw French Jews in Panic; Nazis Close Synagogues in France

Panic is wide-spread among the Jews in both occupied and unoccupied France as a result of continued deportations of Jews to Nazi-held eastern territories, according to word reaching here. The conviction is growing among the Jews in France that the Vichy government is not inclined to resist the Nazi pressure for further anti-Jewish action.

In fear of being rounded up for deportation, according to this report, Jews in Paris are abandoning their homes and wandering on the highways, vaguely hoping that by some manner of means they will be able to reach the Swiss frontier and succeed in crossing it. The recent mass arrest of 28,000 Jews was the occasion for the beginning of these wanderings.

Regardless of age, sex or physical condition, graybeards and children, the frail and even wounded are being packed into cattle-wagons. They are usually told that they are off for a 20-day journey, but no provision is made for their food en route. They are pushed into the cattle-wagons and transported under special Gestapo guard.

FRENCH CROWDS DEMONSTRATE IN PARIS BEFORE DEPARTING “JEWISH TRAINS”

On every occasion of the departure of a “Jewish train” with deportees, crowds of French people at the railroad stations burst into spontaneous demonstrations, the report states. Singing the Marseillaise, they openly display their sympathy with the victims, but are prevented by German soldiers from approaching the trains.

To avoid imprisonment for wearing a yellow star as expression of sympathy with Jews, French non-Jewish students in Paris are now wearing yellow armbands with the inscription “dog owner,” the report adds.

It was reported here also that Dr. Solomon, the son-in-law of the famous French scientist, Prof. Langevin, was executed by the Nazis in Paris on the charge of anti-German activity. His wife was sent to a concentration camp.

INTERIOR OF SYNAGOGUES CONFISCATED; TORAHS TURNED OVER TO JEWS

Charging that “synagogues are nests of anti-German propaganda,” the Nazi authorities have closed down all synagogues in Paris and throughout the occupied parts of France. The Torahs of all the “liquidated” synagogues were placed under the care of the Jewish Central Committee in Paris. The interior fixtures were confiscated by the Nazi occupational administration.

Protests made to the Vichy Government by Catholic, Protestant, Quaker and other organizations with regard to the ruthless deportations of Jews from both occupied and unoccupied France, as well as with regard to other anti-Jewish measures, have produced no results. Officials of the French government in Vichy simply “explain” that the deportations of Jews are being carried out “because the Jews are undesirable elements.”