Un engrenage fatal

Résumé éditeur

A history of the UGIF, created by Vichy in 1941 in order to assemble all Jews in France under one roof. Discusses the backgrounds of the leaders of UGIF and the split within the Jewish elite. The organization's first task was to provide for Jews in the French internment camps, and also in Drancy after it began receiving Jews in August 1941. In reaction to the roundups in summer 1942, the UGIF tried to negotiate limitations on internments and deportations. Examines the ethical borders of the UGIF's psychological and material support to the Jewish prisoners and their families, especially after the summer of 1943, when Alois Brunner (as head of Drancy) assigned to it new services which contributed to the efficiency of the deportations. The UGIF's role in caring for the children of prisoners and deportees, and the ambiguous safety of its children's homes, is discussed in light of the roundups in the Paris region in 1944, in which 242 children were caught. In 1944 the Fondation Rothschild was turned into a purely Jewish hospital under the auspices of the UGIF.