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Such was the emotion expressed by Jewish writer Manès Sperber on the eve of the Six-Day War. Lest this appear to be the intemperate outburst of one Jew, buried in a Jewish community journal, or hysteria confined to the opinion pages of national newspapers, Richard Nollier’s cover story in Le Monde’s 3 June 1967 edition made palpable the acute anxiety of many Jews and non-Jews across France. History, Nollier ironized,“seems fond of bitter repetitions.” But, he pointed out,“the repetition is only superficial. Twenty-two years ago, they massacred defenseless people. Today, the survivors have tanks, rockets and a national flag. The difference is appreciable. It has to do essentially with the way of dying.” And further:

The fact remains that for the first time, the Jews as Jews have their territory, their citizenry and their paratroopers. After centuries in the ghetto, after Auschwitz, they know what they represent. They also …