World War II in Pictures- Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv. codenamed Opération Vent printanier (Operation Spring Breeze) of 16 and 17 July 1942.

The name for the event is derived from the nickname of the Vélodrome d'Hiver ("Winter Velodrome"), a bicycle velodrome and stadium where many of the victims were temporarily confined. The roundup was one of several aimed at reducing the Jewish population in occupied France.

According to records of the Préfecture de Police, 13,152 victims were arrested and held at the Vélodrome d'Hiver and the Drancy internment camp nearby, then shipped by railway transports to Auschwitz for extermination.  French President Jacques Chirac apologized in 1995 for the complicit role that French policemen and civil servants served in the raid.