Macron lays wreath at Memorial to the Deportation of Jews from France

The President met with Holocaust survivors and their descendants at the memorial event.

JANUARY 23, 2020 17:47

French President Emmanuel Macron visits the Memorial to the Deportation of Jews from France, January 23, 2020. (photo credit: HAIM VERSANO/KKL-JNF) — French President Emmanuel Macron visits the Memorial to the Deportation of Jews from France, January 23, 2020.

(photo credit: HAIM VERSANO/KKL-JNF)

French President Emmanuel Macron met with holocaust survivors and their descendants on Thursday at an event held in memory of French Jews murdered in the Shoah.

President Macron laid a wreath at the Memorial the the Deportation of Jews from France, located at the Rogleet Forest near Beit Shemesh in Israel, before greeting Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor Saul Oren, and Samuel Green, survivor of the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup of 16 and 17 July 1942 in which 13,152 Jews were arrested by French Police in Paris. 4,000 children were among the deportees, who were eventually sent on to Auschwitz.

Macron also met with third generation descendants of survivors, and with Yair Lootsteen, vice-chairman of the Keren Kayemeth Leisrael – Jewish National Fund, which organized the memorial event. Lootsteen expressed his organizations appreciation for Macron's attendance.

The Memorial to the Deportation of Jews from France carries the names of the deportees, along with their date and place of birth. It is set in a forest of 80,000 pine trees, signifying the 80,000 Jews deported from France to the Nazi's labor and death camps.

On Wednesday Macron met with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his first official visit to Israel. Netanyahu requested that France sanction Iran for uranium enrichment and aggression in the region, before asking Macron to seek justice for Sarah Halimi, a Jewish woman killed in Paris by a young man who yelled 'Allahu Akbar'. Her killer admitted to the murder but claimed insanity; a court concluded he was not responsible for his actions because he was high on drugs.

Netanyahu also asked Macron to petition for the extradition of a man who killed Jews in France, and is currently in Ramallah. Macron said he would look into the two matters.

Later on Wednesday he met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a meeting which Israeli officials said they "weren't thrilled" about.

Lahav Harkov contributed to this report.