On the night of October 2–3, 1941, six synagogues were attacked in Paris and damaged by explosive devices places by their doors between 2:05 and 4:05 am. The perpetrators were identified but not arrested.
History On the night of October 2–3, 1941, explosive devices were placed in front of six synagogues causing damage to them.Kevin Passmore & Chris Millington, Political Violence and Democracy in Western Europe, 1918–1940, 2015, , Betrayal: Bombing Synagogues on the Streets of Paris: Igniting the French Holocaust/Shoah.
Synagogues affected
Synagogue des Tournelles (in the Jewish Marais district) Synagogue de la rue Copernic (16th arrondissement of Paris) Synagogue Nazareth (3rd arrondissement of Paris) Synagogue de la rue Pavée (4th arrondissement of Paris) Montmartre Synagogue (18th arrondissement of Paris) Grand Synagogue of Paris (9th arrondissement of Paris)
The attacks Helmut Knochen, Chief Commandant of the Sicherheitspolizei (Nazi Occupying Security Services) ordered the attacks on the Paris synagogues.
Members of the Milice placed the bombs. At the Synagogue de la rue Copernic, there was partial destruction of the building (the window jamb and the sill were destroyed and the windows were blown out)Jean Laloum. Du culte libéral au travail social : la rue Copernic au temps des années noires. Archives Juives 2009/1 (Vol. 42), pages 118 à 132, voir note 5. that the community rebuilt in 1946. In a journal entry dated September 11, 1942, writer Hélène Berr, wrote:
MÉMOIRE. L'attentat du 3 octobre 1941. sauvegardecopernic.org. Voir, des photos après l'attentat à la Synagogue de la rue Copernic.
The Revolutionary Social Movement (MSR), a far-right political party was also implicated in the attacks. From research by Patrick Fournie (2016):
According to Frédéric Monier (2011):
Hans Sommer, agent with the Nazi intelligence services in charge of France, contacted Eugène Deloncle in 1941. Sommer provided the materials that Deloncle used in the attacks against the synagogues. After the war, Sommer was sentenced to two years in prison by a French military court.
Reporting According to the Vichy correspondent of the Swiss newspaper Feuille d'Avis de Neuchâtel et du Vignoble neuchâtelois, on Saturday October 4, 1941:The article continued:
Neither surprise nor emotion A police report by the Renseignements généraux dated October 4, 1941, said:
Silence from the Church Following the attacks on the Paris synagogues, the Archbishop of Paris Emmanuel Suhard, remained silent. In the Free zone, the Association of French Rabbis expressed surprise at this silence. Several bishops reached out to the rabbis with support, following the example of Cardinal Jules-Géraud Saliège of Toulouse, who wrote a letter of support to Rabbi Moïse Cassorla.
Bibliography
. . Patrick Fournier. La délation des Juifs à Paris pendant l’Occupation, 1940-1944. Université de Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense.Université d’Ottawa. Thèse en cotutelle internationale pour obtenir les grades de Docteur de l’Université d’Ottawa. Discipline : Histoire. Docteur de l’Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense. Discipline : Science Politique. Ottawa, Canada, 2016
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See also
Paris in World War II Antisemitism in France
References