Discover the Memory Courses in Paris

Simone Veil, journey of a life

Sunday, March 17, 2024, 10 AM

the Shoah Memorial offers a unique walk to discover the Paris of Simone Veil.

From the hotel Lutétia where she arrived in 1945 from her return from deportation to the battles fought on the rostrum of the National Assembly, the participants walked along the Quai de Conti in front of the imposing columns of the French Academy. By inscribing their steps in a daily Paris, they share the story of a life of commitments.

The route then opens the entrance to the Pantheon: under the dome, the tribute to the Righteous of France and the final resting place of an immortal couple. Iconic figure, the lives of Simone Veil now adorn the urban furniture near the Shoah Memorial, the final stage in a journey marked by the seal of exception.

Duration: 2h30

Meeting place: reception of the Shoah Memorial, 4^e arr. 

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Le Marais chanté-é

Sunday, March 17, 2024, at 2 PM

In words and music, the visitor travels to the heart of the Ashkenazi and Sephardic cultures through the small streets of the Marais on the traces of Jewish life.  Schools, synagogues, businesses and secret gardens mark this discovery.

At the turn of a street or a square, musical readings will revive the soul of this old neighborhood nicknamed by its inhabitants the Pletzl.

Mediation: Virginie Fromentin

Maud Landau, actress 

Eden Gerber (clarinet and singing) and Adrien Séguy (accordion and singing) from the group Assafir. 

Duration: 2 h

Meeting place: metro Saint-Paul, 4^e arr. 

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Discover the places of memory of the Vel d'Hiv roundup in the 15th^e arr. 

Sunday, March 17, 2024, 3 PM

On 16 and 17 July 1942, at the initiative of the Germans, the French police arrested 12,884 Jews in Paris. This unprecedented roundup involves, for the first time, more than 4,000 children under 16 years of age. They are transported to the "Vel d'Hiv", a famous sports palace located not far from the Eiffel Tower, and stay there for several days in inhuman conditions. Deported from Drancy to Auschwitz-Birkenau, few survive. What remains today of "these days of tears and shame", in the words of Jacques Chirac in 1995? This journey will address the history and memory of this raid, now a symbol of the Shoah in France. 

Duration: 1 h 30

Meeting place: in front of the monument, Place des Martyrs-juifs-du-Vélodrome-d'Hiver, promenade du quai de Grenelle, 15^e arr. 

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Their names were Annette, Joseph, Dora: History(s) of the Jews in the 18th^e arrondissement 

Thursday, March 21, 2024, 6 PM

Symbolized by the emblematic Montmartre, the 18^e arrondissement has managed to maintain its popular anchorage, enriching itself with a mosaic of cultures for more than a century. Land of welcome, it was for the Jewish immigrants from all over Europe. Many are those who have walked, from childhood, in its streets without ever forgetting them. This route traces the itinerary of three figures in the neighborhood: Joseph Joffo, hidden child, unforgettable author of A Bag of Marbles, the heroine of Patrick Modiano’s book, Dora Nespresso, deported without return, and Annette Landauer, rescued during the roundup of the Vel d'Hiv. 

From the school on rue Ferdinand Flocon to the synagogue on rue Saint-Isaure, via the Léon Serpolet garden and boulevard Ornano, this itinerary invites you to discover the little-known history of the Jews in the north of Paris. 

Duration: 1h30

Appointment: place Jules Joffrin, 18^e arr. 

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The Marais district: in the footsteps of Jewish life in Paris

Thursday, March 21, 2024, at 6 PM

The itinerary begins with a presentation of the Wall of Names at the Shoah Memorial before following in the footsteps of Jewish life in the historic heart of Paris, the Marais. By discovering synagogues, commemorative plaques and traditional businesses, from the Middle Ages to the present day, the group follows the developments of the Jewish district, the Pletzl. 

Duration: 1 h 30

Meeting place: reception of the Shoah Memorial, 4^e arr. 

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The presence of Judeo-Spaniards in the 11th arrondissement of Paris

Sunday, March 24, 2024, 11 AM

Started at the end of the 19th century, this immigration from Balkan Europe finds its place in the district Popincourt. From rue Sedaine to place Voltaire, passing through the synagogue on rue de la Roquette, streets, shops and cafés come to life under the pen of Ariane Bois in Le Monde d'Hannah which depicts the story of her mother, a Turkish Jew. The route is accompanied by excerpts from the book and allows retracing the history of the Judeo-Spaniards, from their settlement to the darker time of the persecutions of the Occupation. 

Duration: 1 h 30

Meeting place: at the foot of the July Column, Place de la Bastille, 11^e arr. 

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In the footsteps of Hélène Berr

Sunday, March 24, 2024, at 2 PM

From April 1942 to February 1944, Hélène Berr, a young Jewish student, kept her diary in occupied Paris. Over the words, between relative carefreeness and anxiety, the young woman shares her daily life in the face of a trap that, step by step, closes in on her. Her striking lucidity and her talent as a writer make Hélène Berr’s diary an unprecedented and precious testimony. 

The journey in the Latin Quarter is accompanied by the reading of excerpts from the Journal put into perspective with the situation of the Jews in Paris under the Occupation. 

Mediation: Julien Coutant

In the exceptional presence of Mariette Job, niece of Hélène Berr and editor of the Journal. 

Duration: 2 h 30

Meeting place: 5 avenue Elisée Reclus, 7^e arr. 

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Jewish lives in a popular neighborhood: Belleville and the 20^e arrondissement of Paris

Sunday, March 24, 2024, at 3 PM

This route through the streets of Belleville, Saint-Fargeau and Gambetta allows us to understand the daily life of Jewish immigrants settled in these working-class neighborhoods. Artisans, fairground workers, often Yiddish-speaking, religious or secular, politically engaged or not, these newcomers become part of the life of the 20th arrondissement to which they infuse a new energy. First targeted during the raids of 1941 and 1942, the inhabitants of these neighborhoods include many resistance fighters. 

Duration: 1h30 

Meeting place: metro Belleville, 20^e arr. (exit No 1: boulevard de Belleville)

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