Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed in France every July 16 to commemorate the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup, a mass arrest of over 13,000 Jews, primarily women and children, by the French police in collaboration with the Vichy government in July 1942. This tragic event saw many arrestees held in inhumane conditions at the Vel’ d’Hiv (Vélodrome d’Hiver) in Paris, where they faced severe overcrowding and lack of basic facilities. In 1993, President François Mitterrand officially declared this date as a national day of remembrance for victims of racist and antisemitic persecutions under Vichy France. Since 2000, the observance has also honored the French Righteous among the Nations, non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. The day serves as a solemn reminder of the atrocities committed and the importance of remembering the victims.