The day after the International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the commemoration of the victims of crimes against Humanity, Christian Estrosi unveiled two commemorative plaques yesterday, in memory of six Jewish students from the Baumettes school who were arrested, deported, and murdered in the Auschwitz camp.
Under the Vichy government of Laval and Pรฉtain, more than 11,000 children, innocent victims, were deported from France. Among them, 400 lived in the Alpes-Maritimes. Yesterday, the Baumettes school was chosen to honor their memories.
“On the day after the commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust and crimes against Humanity, we unveil with Michรจle Merowka, representative of AMEJDAM, two plaques in memory of six Jewish students from the Baumettes school who were arrested, deported, and murdered in Auschwitz,” stated Christian Estrosi alongside Eric Ciotti. Initially protected because it was in the free zone and later under Italian control, the department faced intense persecution of Jews with the German occupation, fueled by the far-right and part of the clergy.
The Gestapo, led by Brunner, entered Nice on September 10, 1943. According to Serge Klarsfeld, the roundups “are among the most terrible conducted in Western Europe. In total, 3,612 Jews from the Alpes-Maritimes, including more than 400 children, were sent to death.”
To perpetuate the memory of these children arrested and exterminated during deportation in World War II who attended school in the Alpes-Maritimes, commemorative plaques have been installed in the Fouont Cauda, Saint Philippe, Auber, Mantรฉga, and Port schools.
“Thank you to the students of the Baumettes school for this moving tribute to Gisรจle, Emirรฉ, Nรฉvine, Liliane, Maurice, and Elie, who were between 11 and 16 years old, all murdered in the Auschwitz camp. Let us not forget and pass it on. Children, you are our greatest hope. It is you who must now carry this message of peace for the future,” concluded the Mayor of Nice.
