This letter reports on a set of full-Stokes spectropolarimetric observations in the near infrared He i 10830Å spectral region covering the pre-, flare, and post-flare phases of an M3.2 class solar flare. The flare originated on 2013 May 17 and belonged to active region NOAA 11748. We detected strong He i 10830Å emission in the flare. The red component of the He i triplet peaks at an intensity ratio to the continuum of about 1.86. During the flare, He i Stokes V is substantially larger and appears reversed compared to the usually larger Si i Stokes V profile. The photospheric Si i inversions of the four Stokes profiles reveal the following:(1) the magnetic field strength in the photosphere decreases or is even absent during the flare phase, as compared to the pre-flare phase. However, this decrease is not permanent. After the flare the magnetic field recovers its pre-flare configuration in a short time (i.e., in 30 minutes after the flare).(2) In the photosphere, the line-of-sight velocities show a regular granular up-and down-flow pattern before the flare erupts. During the flare, upflows (blueshifts) dominate the area where the flare is produced. Evaporation rates of ∼ 10 −3 and ∼ 10 −4 g cm −2 s −1 have been derived in the deep and high photosphere, respectively, capable of increasing the chromospheric density by a factor of two in about 400 seconds.