The monument to the victims of the Winter velodrome (vel Yves d) recalls the tragic page in the history of France: in July 1942 on the orders of the German occupying authorities, the French police arrested 13 thousand Jews, foreigners who lived in Paris. The majority of them prior to our arrival in the death camp were detained at the Winter velodrome.

The vel d Eve, the first indoor Cycling track in France, before the war was a popular place. There, on the street Nelaton, were carried out not only Cycling, but also competitions in hockey, wrestling, Boxing. Hemingway in "the Holiday, which always with you" in a romantic manner described Winter velodrome "in the haze of the dying day". In the haze of the early morning of 16 July 1942 vel d Eve took thousands of Jews – men, women, children of all ages. They spent a week there – in the heat (at the velodrome was the glass roof, and all Windows closed), without food, with one water tap and five toilets at all. Those who tried to escape were shot on the spot, several people have committed suicide. In a week all sent to Auschwitz.

Three children managed to save mother Maria Skobtsova. Poet, nun, member of the Resistance lived very close – on the street Lourmel. Mother Mary has made to her were allowed into the stadium, found a familiar immigrant from Russia and helped her children, two boys and a girl, running, hiding them in the dustbins.

After the war, abandoned velodrome burned. Now, the vel d Eve of an apartment building and the Ministry of the interior.

For many years France had refused to admit his guilt in this tragedy. Only in 1995, President Jacques Chirac for the first time said that the country had committed the unpardonable sin.

Ceremony in memory of the victims is held at the monument every year. However, finding him is not easy, and hardly anyone from the Parisians will tell you where he is. To approach the monument, it is necessary to move from the bridge of bir-Hakeim along the boardwalk promenade Grenelle. The boardwalk is actually the roof of the tunnel after crossing the Seine go RER. Upstairs, opposite to the house №17, not visible from the sidewalk, and is a monument by the sculptor Walter Spitzer and architect Mario Azagury.

Spitzer child was among those arrested at the Winter stadium and survived Auschwitz. His monument is seven figures, sitting and lying on an inclined surface of the racetrack. Three women, two men, two children. Their faces are turned to the Eiffel tower – the symbol of the city, from which they hoped to receive protection.