Mémorial de la Shoah

Mémorial de la Shoah
courtyard of the Shoah Memorial building in Paris
Former name Mémorial du martyr juif inconnu
Established January 2005 (2005-01)
Location Paris, Le Marais, France
Coordinates 48°51′17″N 2°21′22″E / 48.854846°N 2.356196°E / 48.854846; 2.356196
Key holdings archives of World War II deportations, personal objects of deportees, Memorials
Founder Isaac Schneersohn
Website www.memorialdelashoah.org

Mémorial de la Shoah is the holocaust museum in Paris, France.[1] The memorial is in the district of Le Marais, in the third and fourth arrondissement, which had a large Jewish population at the beginning of WWII.[2]

The memorial was opened, by President Jacques Chirac, on 27 January 2005. This day was chosen to coincide with International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp.[3] The memorial underwent a major renovation in 2005, creating exhibition spaces, a multimedia center, and a reading room.

Areas of the memorial

Forecourt

The forecourt of the memorial, above the memorial crypt, includes a circular memorial listing the names of the death camps and the Warsaw Ghetto. There is also a wall with seven bas-reliefs by Arbit Blatas that symbolize the camps and the persecution of the Jews.[2] The facade of the building, above the forecourt, has two inscription. First, a line from an adaptation of Deuteronomy 25:17 by Zalman Schnoeur (translated from Hebrew).

Remember what Amalek did unto our generation, which exterminated 600 myriad bodies and souls even though there was no war.[4]

Second, a quote from Justin Godart, Minister of Health and Honorary President of the Committee for the Unknown Jewish Martyr (translated from French).

Before the unknown Jewish martyr, incline your head in piety and respect for all the martyrs; incline your thoughts to accompany them along their path of sorrow. They will lead you to the highest pinnacle of justice and truth.[4]

Wall of Names

Several walls that make a passageway to the building list the names of the approximately 76,000 French Jews who were deported and murdered by the Nazis. They are listed alphabetically by year of deportation.[2]

Memorial crypt

The "Jewish Files"

The memorial crypt predates the Memorial de la Shoah; in 1957, the ashes of victims from the different death camps and the Warsaw Ghetto were buried in dirt from Israel. The crypt also includes a door from the Warsaw Ghetto and the "Jewish Files" created by the Vichy government to identify Jewish citizens. These files were later used by the Nazis to locate Jews for deportation.[2]

Exhibit rooms

The memorial's permanent exhibit documents the history of French Jews during the Holocaust. The materials on exhibit include photographs, text, and video and audio recordings.

The memorial also includes an auditorium, bookstore, multimedia learning center, documentation center, and the Room of Names (research room).[4]

The Wall of the Righteous

Since 1963, the Museum Memorial of Yad Vashem (Jerusalem) has awarded the title "Righteous Among the Nations" to non-Jewish people who helped save Jews during the war. As of 2014, this wall lists 3,300 people, either French or acting in France, who have been awarded this title. The wall runs alongside of the memorial.[2]

Coordinates: 48°51′17″N 2°21′22″E / 48.8548°N 2.3562°E / 48.8548; 2.3562See Also

References

  1. ↑ "Mémorial de la Shoah : Hollande évasif au sujet des génocides". Le Monde. January 29, 2015. Retrieved 2015-12-17.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Gary Lee Kraut (15 March 2014). "Jewish Paris: The Deportation Memorial, the Shoah Memorial and the Holocaust Center – France Revisited - Life in Paris, Travel in France". Francerevisited.com. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  3. ↑ Dominique Raizon (24 January 2005). "RFI - Il y a 60 ans, la libération des camps - Le Mémorial de la Shoah ouvre ses portes". .rfi.fr. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 "The Facade - Mémorial de la Shoah Mémorial de la Shoah". Memorialdelashoah.org. Retrieved 1 January 2017.

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