2023-11-27 16:00:04
During the great citizens’ march against anti-Semitism, in Paris, on November 12. CYRIL BITTON/DIVERGENCE FOR “THE WORLD”
Images of the Holocaust reappeared after the terrorist attacks of October 7. Images that Régine T. (who wishes to remain anonymous) thought buried. “I never thought that my children and grandchildren would be faced with events that we never imagined would happen again”deplores this woman, a child hidden during the Second World War, during which she lost her father, deported to Auschwitz, in Poland.
This is one of the testimonies transcribed in the study devoted to the impact on Holocaust survivors of the October events in Israel, launched by the Association of Jewish Doctors of France (AMIF). About a hundred people have already responded. The preliminary figures are clear: “Ninety percent of survivors connect the October 7 massacres with what happened during the Shoah”, specifies Doctor Halioua, president of AMIF, who coordinates this work. Likewise, 90% consider that “the indifference and silence in the face of Hamas abuses remind them of these traumatic events”.
Thus, Régine T., who was 8 years old on July 16, 1942, the day of the Vel’ d’Hiv roundup, in Paris, lives again “the indifference of neighbors, and especially the silence of people who we thought were friends”. An absence of compassion that can be astonishing. An observation also measured within the framework of other work, also carried out by AMIF, with the children of Holocaust survivors, which has collected 400 responses to date, specifies Doctor Halioua. Furthermore, 68% say they “more vigilant in their behavior since October 7”, regarding the wearing of the kippah, home delivery, etc. And all affirm “be anxious about their future and that of their children”.
Don’t stay alone
This feeling of abandonment, of loneliness, which causes anxiety, is also perceptible in the calls made to the listening and psychological support line set up on October 12twenty-four hours a day, by Jewish institutions, including the Children’s Relief Work (OSE), the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France, the Unified Jewish Social Fund, etc. « Au November 24, 600 calls were recorded, with peaks of thirty calls per day when there were anti-Semitic attacks”, explains psychologist Eric Ghozlan, deputy director general of the OSE and coordinator of the helpline. In total, more than 1,500 acts have been recorded in France since October 7.
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