Eloquence competition: Say in politics, act for memory actualités

This contest is based on the political and institutional discourses that have marked a turning point in history. In this way, the Memorial offers high school students to discover the issues of memorial transmission through the role played by public speaking

This year, 9 classes from secondary schools in the Île-de-France region participated in this project combining history, memory and public speaking.

All students visited the Shoah Memorial in Drancy, participated in a workshop on genocide justice at the Paris Memorial and benefited from a two-hour theater workshop.

Each class was represented by a student who took the floor to give a 3-5 minute speech on the theme proposed this year, "Anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials," answering the following quote: In May 1972, Beate Klarsfeld wrote an article in which she recounted the hunt for and trial of Klaus Barbie. She says, "I may not get justice, but my quest will not have been useless.". 80 years after the end of World War II, not all war criminals have been brought to justice. Faced with this situation, you will play the role of a political figure presenting a speech on the importance of these trials for memory and peacekeeping.

The jury members of this year’s competition were: 

• Myriam Abassi, director of the cabinet of the prefect of Seine Saint Denis
• Jacques Fredj, director of the Shoah Memorial 
• Jérôme Chastan, IA-IPR in History and Geography, Créteil Academy 
• Alexandre Baron, IEN Lettres-histoire, Academy of Versailles
• Alain Brélivet, IEN Lettres-histoire, Paris Academy

Great novelty for this second edition, the winners were divided and awarded within two distinct categories, thus highlighting the commitment of both middle school students and high school students:

• College category (ex aequo): Isild Bigourden Koehl, Les Francs Bourgeois middle school – Paris (75) & Alice Chhun, Pablo Picasso middle school – Montfermeil (93)

• High school category: 1st Soumaya Sarre, Jean Renoir high school – Bondy (93) & 2nd Maylisse Idir, Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire high school – Etampes (91)

The Shoah Memorial expresses its deep gratitude to all the partners and teams who worked for the success of this second edition.

A big thank you to the Prefecture of Seine-Saint-Denis for its welcome, logistical support and co-financing of 2,800 euros, embodied by Mrs. Chief of Staff Myriam Abassi.

We welcome the involvement of the three academies in the Paris region (Créteil, Paris, Versailles) and their representatives for their institutional support.

Finally, congratulations to the internal and artistic teams: Laurine Bahloul and Floriane Philippe (educational coordinator of Drancy and project linchpin), the master of ceremony Demba Thiam, all the mediators of the Memorial, as well as the actresses-coaches Elishéva Décastel and Maud Landau for their valuable work on students' oral fluency.

Thanks to this collective commitment, the younger generations continue to keep alive the memory and values of the Republic.