Mélenchon Agrees With Le Pen: France Not Responsible For Holocaust
Jean Luc Mélenchon Image by Getty Images
Leftist French leader Jean Luc Mélenchon has said France bears no responsibility for the actions of the pro-Nazi Vichy government during the Holocaust, according to Haaretz — echoing the remarks of far right wing leader Marine le Pen.
Mélenchon rejected President Emmanuel Macron’s assertion on Sunday that France bore responsibility for helping the Nazis roundi up and deporting Jews.
“Never, at any moment,” he wrote, “did the French choose murder and anti-Semitic criminality. Those who were not Jewish were not all, and as French people, guilty of the crime that was carried out at the time!” The legitimate French government, Mélenchon said, was in exile in London.
His comments came on the anniversary of Vel d’Hiv, which refers to the Velodrome d’Hiver stadium where around 13,000 Jews were imprisoned before being turned over to the Nazis.
Mélenchon also took issue with Macron’s decision to explicitly link anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, which is a crime in France.
Contact Jesse Bernstein at bernstein@forward.com or on Twitter @__jbernstein
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
