Memory of the Holocaust France's commitment to preserving and
passing on the memory of the Holocaust At the ceremony of 22
July 2012 commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Vel d’Hiv
roundup, President François Hollande reaffirmed France’s
commitment to this cause: "As so many of the direct witnesses of
the Holocaust are no longer with us, France sees it as her most
eminent responsibility to perpetuate the memory. Confronting the
darkest pages in her history, she intends to share with the
other nations of the world the universal lessons to be learned
on understanding totalitarian systems and preventing
atrocities." In recognising "France’s inalienable debt" to the
victims of deportation in a speech made on the site of the
Vélodrome d’Hiver in 1995, President Jacques Chirac had already
made a political gesture widely appreciated by Jewish
communities around the world. A commitment embedded in the
framework of France’s foreign policy "France considers the duty
of remembrance and of combating anti-Semitism as