On January 27, 1945, the French population had yet to grasp the full horror of the Holocaust. After the Soviet army finally liberated Auschwitz and the allies advanced on the Western front, the first survivors began to trickle back to their home countries and the true scale of the tragedy began to emerge. Esther Dzik was one of the survivors who returned to Paris in 1945. She’d been deported in September 1943 at the age of 15 and sent to Auschwitz, where her own sister perished. Now 97 years old, she tells us about the conditions in the camp, her resolve to survive and the struggle to rebuild her life after her whole family was murdered.
We also hear from historians who explain that the return of some of the Jewish people who had been deported was a painful moment for many of them, as their stories were often overshadowed by heroic accounts of political resistance.
Plus we learn more about the legislative changes and the archival work which saw France rebuild its relationship with the Jewish community and lay the foundations for the remembrance and educational work which survivors like Esther are tirelessly involved in.
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