Between 1941 and 1944, the Drancy camp, in Seine-Saint-Denis, was at the heart of the system used to persecute and deport the Jews of France. As the main internment site before their departure to the death camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek and Sobibor, it was the last stop before deportation for tens of thousands of people.
Through the testimonies of women and men who were interned there, Cécile Clairval-Milhaud’s documentary recounts the history of the camp and the living conditions of those held there. The testimonies are accompanied by archival documents and images that place their stories within the context of the policy of persecution carried out in France and shed light on the role of collaboration.
The film also gives particular attention to the fate of children: nearly 10,000 Jewish children were deported from France and murdered in the death camps.
Produced with the assistance of Serge Klarsfeld, president of the Association des Fils et Filles des Déportés Juifs de France, this documentary contributes to passing on the memory of the Holocaust and to a wider understanding of the history of the deportation of the Jews of France. It received support from the Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah.
Find out more: https://www.fondationshoah.org/memoire/drancy-derniere-etape-avant-labime-un-film-de-cecile-clairval-milhaud