The mission of the Holocaust Memorial

Research and documentation

The Holocaust Memorial houses a documentation centre divided into three departments: the archives, the library and the photo library. This archive, consisting of nearly 50 million documents, photos, books, archival films, posters, postcards and even objects is open to everyone from the researcher to the student, who can come to consult on-site archives in a unique space of information and transmission of knowledge about the Shoah and, in particular, the history of the Jews of France during the Second World War. Regularly enriched since the creation of the Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation in 1943 by donations and acquisitions of documents of Holocaust witnesses, It constitutes a unique archive and a first-rate instrument for studying the destruction of the Jews of Europe.

Since January 2017, Ms Karen Taieb, head of the archives at the Shoah Memorial, has been a member of the Second World War Scientific Committee established by the National Archives in February 2016. The objective of this scientific committee is to ensure the application of the decree of 24 December 2015 opening the archives of the Second World War; it brings together researchers and archivists and gives an update on the situation of the various archive centres.

The museum: Exhibitions and cultural activities

The Museum of the Holocaust Memorial offers a permanent exhibition: a chronological and thematic journey made up of twelve sequences that retrace the history of the Jews of France during the Holocaust. This exhibition, based on the archives of the Documentation Centre, proposes a back and forth between individual and collective history. In addition to this permanent exhibition, the museum annually presents temporary exhibitions that draw their themes from history, art and literature. They are windows open on the fate of the Jews in other countries of Europe but also on the other genocides of the twentieth century.

Educational activities and training

The Holocaust Memorial leads awareness raising actions towards the young audiences for several years. Faced with the alarming rise of racism and anti-Semitism, the to intensify educational activity to carry out the action beyond its walls. The educational offer has therefore expanded and offers more inter-museum tours, training sessions in the provinces, pedagogical workshops and off-site exhibitions and trips to places of memory for school children, as well as a programme adapted to the preparation of the CNRD. Since 2016, the Convention History and memories signed with DILCRA allows to develop the actions of the Memorial for young people in order to reduce fears and hatreds.
The Memorial also hosts police officers have just completed their training to complete their historical knowledge of the history of the Shoah and the role of the police during this period.

Citizenship training courses

As part of the development of alternative measures and sentences with pedagogical value, the Memorial has set up partnership agreements with the courts of appeal in Paris, Lyon and Aix-en-Provence. In this context, it has developed a citizenship course for perpetrators of racist or anti-Semitic offences.

Learn more

Activities outside the walls

More than ever, the Holocaust Memorial extends its activities and work to prevent racism, antisemitism and genocide beyond its walls. Exhibitions, meetings, screenings, the province takes advantage of part of the Memorial’s programming in many cities and educational teams travel to host workshops at schools. Internationally, the Memorial also travels some of its exhibitions and organizes training actions and seminars for teachers and students to carry out preventive work against racism, hatred and genocide.

Learn more 

Reception of victims' families

Children, grandchildren and relatives of the victims of the Shoah can be accompanied and assisted in their research, whether it is to find a relative from the lists of Jews deported from France or to document a claim for compensation. People wishing to bring information or donate archives can also contact the Memorial directly, which also travels to the provinces for archival collections.

Speaking group

The Holocaust Memorial welcomes the Centre Georges Devereux which organizes, one Sunday a month, a meeting of a group of former children hidden during the Holocaust.
This speaking group is led by the psychologists of the Centre Georges Devereux, with the support of the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah.
Next appointments : Sundays, 12 January, 9 February, 22 March, 5 April, 24 May and 14 June 2020 at 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM (Free, without reservation)

Information:
Centre Georges Devereux
Tel. 01 77 32 10 64 or by mail: contact@memorialdelashoah.org

Trips to places of remembrance

The Holocaust Memorial organizes annual study trips to Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland open to all, school groups and individuals. The Memorial also provides help and advice to mount, on request, projects for all the places of memory of the Shoah, in France and abroad.

The Network of Holocaust Remembrance Sites in France

Since March 2015, the Réseau des lieux de mémoire de la Shoah en France brings together eleven institutions backed by a historic site and linked to the history and memory of persecution, deportation, extermination, the rescue or resistance of French Jews during the Second World War. Encouraging the development of links between its members, the Network aims to promote knowledge and transmission of the history of the Shoah at both national and local levels, contributing to the affirmation of republican and democratic values, in particular in the fight against all forms of racism and anti-Semitism. The Network relies on young memory ambassadors. Since 2010, the eleven institutions have been meeting on Holocaust Remembrance and Crime Against Humanity Day, January 27. In May 2017, the Mont Valérien and the Memorial of the Martyrs of the Deportation joined the Network of Places of Memory of the Shoah which now has 13 partner institutions.

See the Network website

Scientific journal

The edition of the Review of the History of the Shoah is the most important part of the research activity at the Memorial. Created in 1946, the Revue deals with the history of the genocide of the Jews by Hitler’s Germany and the reflection that it provokes in different cultural fields. It also opens its study to other genocides of the twentieth century. The editorial activity of the Memorial has extended to the publication of historical works for a wider public in partnership with Calmann-Levy publishing.

Operating budget

Many individuals and institutions support the Memorial in its mission, by providing their know-how, expertise, time or financial assistance. Thank you very much to all of them.

Below is the operating budget taken from the moral report of the Holocaust Memorial.