"Stolen Memory": in France, an exhibition presents objects stolen from the deportees of the Second World War

2023-08-08T10:05:02.299Z

Highlights: Compiègne was one of the most important French deportation camps during the Second World War. The exhibition presents objects looted from the victims of Nazi barbarism, sometimes 80 years old. Families can recover the objects, or give them to the memorial. Some make a compromise and choose to give the objects to the death of their loved ones, who have experienced the hell of the camps. "We propose to families to donate them because it is both the guarantee of preserving these objects for future generations, but it is also a form of preservation of the name of the deportee," says Aurélien Gnat.

Since July 13, the city of Compiègne, in France, hosts the exhibition "Stolen Memory" until the end of August. The exhibition presents objects looted from the victims of Nazi barbarism,...

"Stolen Memory": in France, an exhibition presents objects stolen from the deportees of the Second World War

Since July 13, the city of Compiègne, in France, hosts the exhibition "Stolen Memory" until the end of August. The exhibition presents objects looted from the victims of Nazi barbarism, sometimes 80 years old, with high symbolic value for families, but also with high historical value.

The memorial of the quai des déportés, in Margny-lès-Compiègne. © Wikimedia commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Text by: RFI Follow

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Compiègne was one of the most important French deportation camps during the Second World War. Installed at the entrance of the memorial of the deportation of Compiègne, a container is part of the traveling exhibition. This is where the families of deportees can be informed or recover the objects looted from their parents.

Families were sometimes unaware that these objects had been kept for so long. Sometimes they learn the destiny of a loved one they haven't heard from for 80 years," explains Aurélien Gnat, director of the Compiègne Internment and Deportation Memorial. The exhibition is organized by the International Documentation Center on Nazi Persecution.

Continue the memory

Families can recover the objects, or give them to the memorial. Some make a compromise and choose to give them to the death of their loved ones, who have experienced the hell of the camps. "We propose to families to donate them because it is both the guarantee of preserving these objects for future generations, but it is also a form of preservation of the name of the deportee in question. This makes it possible to continue the memory of this ancestor through a museum visit in a memorial like ours", continues Aurélien Gnat

The exhibition invites families to take the first step in a memorial process that, 80 years later, can still be painful.

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"Stolen Memory": in France, an exhibition presents objects stolen from the deportees of the Second World War

"Stolen Memory": in France, an exhibition presents objects stolen from the deportees of the Second World War

Continue the memory

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