PATH: Building against oblivion

Level: from 9th to 12th grade

As Justin Godart wrote in his notes, honorary president of the Committee of the Unknown Jewish Martyr, "a monument (...) is the lighthouse, the milestone on the path to the future, it indicates the road of tomorrow that must no longer see what it commemorates, and for this which must not forget..."

Students are invited to visit two memorials inaugurated a few years and a few meters apart. Between differences and similarities, their architecture is the reflection of a desire for eternity.

• 1st session at the Shoah Memorial

Thematic visit: Building against oblivion

This architectural tour retraces the history of the construction of the Memorial from 1953 to the present day. Which actors, which choices, what challenges? It is an unprecedented journey that leads to the discovery of materials and symbols hidden behind each stone.

Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

• 2nd session at the Deportation Martyrs' Memorial

Visit: "Evoke the long calvary of wear, the will to extermination and degradation"

This was the intention of the architect Georges-Henri Pingusson when he designed this Memorial in the heart of the capital in 1960, buried below the square de l'Île-de-France. Architecture sometimes mingles with figuration, sometimes with abstraction, but always for the same purpose: to commemorate, gather and question consciences.

Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes