Vel' d'Hiv - Somewhat, but not completely OT

[Mabouya]

https://nyti.ms/2oj506c

The most notorious velodrome ever is back in the news.

The French and their relationships with the Nazis during the 2nd WW is quite complicated. The story of the Vel d'Hiv roundup is part of that, and Marine Le Pen [booo, hissss] has managed to dredge it all up again.

[Too Tall]

I'm not sure what to do with this. Yes yes boo hiss Le Pen is a racist. Is this sports news or a invite to speak harshly? Confused.

Make love not war - Rinse and repeat.

[Mabouya]

I'm not sure what to do with this. Yes yes boo hiss Le Pen is a racist. Is this sports news or a invite to speak harshly? Confused.

Josh, since we're all cyclists, I thought that folks in the US who have never heard of the Vel d'Hiv might be interested in learning about the connection a velodrome has to a very dark chapter in human history.

It wasn't the fault of cyclists, or anything like that, but Le Pen has brought back to the surface the small part a velodrome played in a horrible sequence of events long ago; and so today, during a French presidential campaign, folks are again talking about the Vel d'Hiv and what happened there in July 1942 (and by extension, the guilt that many French feel for the degree of cooperation offered to the Nazis by the Vichy government, which is the true issue of the Vel d'Hiv roundup, as far as France is concerned).

[sk_tle]

Also less known the Vélodrome d'Hiver was also used as a detention center during the war in Algeria just before his closing.

In reality the Vel d'Hiv was still the popular name but since the early 30's the official name was Palais des Sports de Grenelle and it was not only a velodrome. It hosted different types of events : boxing, tennis, horse competitions, basket ball, ice-hockey or even fashion shows and corrida. The Vel d'Hiv was simply a huge indoor place for the time in the Paris area which is the reason the police force from René Bousquet chose this place to do the roundup.

Le Pen is racist but I thought she was a wee bit smarter than that. She is so stuck in her let's make France great again strategy that she is ready to deny or fight anything that could be judged as a critic on France history. This is so unconstructive. I don't know of any country that doesn't have any shady past. We have to learn from that, not deny it.

[j44ke]

When the problems are too difficult to solve unilaterally and the constituency too finely divided to create a clear majority, politicians with ambitions that exceed their morality will always advocate the forgetfulness of nationalism.