During the summer of 1942 France is under German occupation, the Jews are obliged to wear the yellow star; In the Butte Montmartre district, two Jewish families live like the other inhabitants of this district, with the exception that, being Jews, they fear the arrival of the Gestapo. In Paris, opinions are divided, some want to protect the Jews by hiding them while others like the baker prefer to insult them, and belittle them.
On the night of July 16 to 17, their destiny changed following an agreement between the Nazis and the French authorities on the arrest and deportation of numerous Jews, an agreement which led to the roundup of the Vélodrome d’Hiver. The Butte Montmartre district will not escape it, indeed the family of Joseph Weismann, a Jew, and their neighbors are arrested after having tried by several means to escape. Joseph’s father could have escaped this arrest if Joseph had not inadvertently denounced him when his mother had pretended to be a widow to the militiamen.
Following this raid, they are taken to the Vélodrome d’Hiver, where Joseph and Noé, his best friend’s little brother, meet a nurse, Annette Monod, who will do her best to help them and the other Jews. In this velodrome, the conditions are precarious and unsanitary: they have no water, they are crowded and they have to relieve themselves where there is space. The meager food they have taken must be shared so that each of them can eat. One early morning when the prisoners are thirsty, the firefighters burst in and open the valves to give the prisoners something to drink.
Captain Pierret, of the Paris firefighters, even uses his rank to take command of the Vélodrome in order to impose silence on the dissatisfied gendarmes. After two days, those rounded up were deported to a transit camp in Beaune-la-Rolande, in Loiret, where the living conditions were unbearable.
Hungry and weakened, the Jews face hunger and thirst. A few days later, the parents and their children are deported to an extermination camp, in Auschwitz, only the little ones have to stay hoping for their return which will not take place. The latter have been torn from their mothers’ arms and Annette redoubles her efforts despite her fatigue to take care of them.
Joseph and one of his comrades flee with the complicity of others following his mother’s last words telling him to flee. Joseph cannot take his best friend with him because he is ill. Finally Joseph will survive thanks to his escape as well as Nono who escaped from the train and who was taken in by a couple of people. In 1945, at the end of the war, they both found Annette at the Lutetia, a Parisian hotel where survivors of the camps were welcomed.
Experience the harrowing tale of survival and resilience in “The Round Up Full Movie.” Witness the struggles faced by Joseph, Nono, and Annette as they navigate through one of the darkest periods in history. Don’t miss out on this powerful story of hope and courage. Watch “The Round Up Full Movie” today.