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Mankind's Guilt
Is Being Assuaged

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H

eartrending recollec-
tions of the horrifying
inhumanities which
continue to make the
suffering of the Jewish peo-
ple the guilt of all mankind
are gradually finding relief
added to remorse. It became
evident in admissions of
crimes that grew and
multiplied in the Holocaust.
There is a sense of gratifica-
tion in the knowledge that
such admissions of guilt are
expressed in many lands —
most regrettably in this
country.
The latest demonstration
of humanism is the procla-
mation of July 16 as an an-
nual French Day of Remem-
brance of the initiation there
of the Nazi terror. The proc-
lamation has been issued by
President Francois Mit-
terand of France. It said:
... that victims of racist
and anti-Semitic persecu-
tion here between 1940
and 1944 would be re-
membered in ceremonies
throughout the country
every year on July 16, the
anniversary of the first
arrests of Jews by French
police officers in Paris in
1942.
The decree also calls for:
• • • monuments at the
Vel d'Hiv, a cycling
stadium where the first
detainees were taken in
Paris, as well as at one of
the camps where Jews
were concentrated and at
a house in the Rhone
valley where Jewish chil-
dren were held for depor-
tation.
Further, com-
memorative plaques
would be placed in every
French department. A
special committee headed
by the secretary of State
for Veterans and in-
cluding Jewish represen-
tatives will decide the text
that will appear on each
plaque in coordination
with the local authorities.
The Mitterand decree
should be viewed by Jews
and non-Jews as another
historic step in removing the
guilt from the scaffold of in-
humanizations.
A New York Times story of
Feb. 5 was reported by Alan
Riding. Because it goes into
detail, relating the Vichy
crimes that left a black mark
on French history, the

Francois Mitterand paid a visit to Israel last year.

Riding story cannot be
reduced in value. It is,
therefore, important that we
note significances in this ex-
cerpt:
The decree was widely
viewed as an attempt to
appease Jewish and other
groups that have accused
the French leader of am-
bivalence toward the
Vichy regime and its
chief, Marshal Henri
Philippe Petain. Although
he worked briefly for
Vichy as a young man,
Mr. Mitterand later
emerged as an important
Resistance figure.
Urged by a committee of
prominent intellectuals to
apologize for the arrest
and deportation of
thousands of Jews, Mr.
Mitterand argued last
year that neither the
French nation nor the
French Republic could
accept blame for crimes
carried out by a tem-
porary and illegitimate
government.
As recently as Nov. 11,
the president also pro-
voked a storm of protests
when he ordered that an
Armistice Day wreath in
his name be placed on the
Marshal Petain's tomb,
the argument being that
he was honoring the
French military hero of
World War I and not the
political traitor of World
War II.
In contrast, when a
French court last year
decided that crimes
against humanity could
not be brought against a
Vichy official, Paul
Touvier, the Government

successfully appealed the
ruling. The case against
Mr. Touvier, who is
accused of ordering the
execution of seven Jews,
is scheduled to be heard
in April.
Jean Kahn, president of
the Council of Jewish In-
stitutions in France, said
that he considered the
decision to create a na-
tional day of remem-
brance to represent a full
condemnation of the
Vichy crimes, "something
we have long been
waiting for."
Mr. Kahn said he was
particularly pleased by
the decree because he
understood it would also

Admissions of guilt
are expressed in
many lands.

lead to the teaching in
schools of both the
"shameful" history of the
period and of the need for
tolerance, " all the more
necessary given the re-
cent outbursts of racism,
anti-Semitism and
xenophobia in Europe."
There is great encourage-
ment inherent in the Mit-
terand decree. It becomes
important in the response
from the Jewish youth of
France:
Welcoming what it
called a "symbolic act,"
the Union of Jewish
Students said educational
work still had to be done
before the French people
learned the full truth.

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