In France, during the Holocaust, about three-quarters of the Jewish population avoided arrest and deportation. Should the conclusion be reached that the French population was not very anti-Semitic? This idea is supported by some recent studies in history, which focus on anti- Semitism as it relates to individual actions and decisions. However, a study of the fate of the rental rights of Parisian Jewish families suggests a different interpretation. How can we understand that the Parisian population, described as moved by the fate of the Jews after the great roundups of 1942,...
