FIRST CONVOY

On March 27, 1942, the first convoy of Jews from France left for Auschwitz under the orders of the Vichy regime. Half of these people were wealthy French Jews, arrested at their Paris homes on December 12, 1941. The others were mostly immigrants, arrested in Paris during the round up on August 20, 1941. They were the first Jews to enter Birkenau; the first to start
building what would become a death camp. Of the 1112 people sent, only 20 were to return in 1945, after the liberation of the camps. 50 years later, 12 of the survivors of the first convoy retraced their steps. They returned to the camp agreed to talk about what they had seen and experienced. “First Convoy” is a testimony where each person reveals part of his memory within the limits of discretion.