The Memorial of the Deportation Martyrs (Mémorial des Martyrs de la Déportation) commemorates the 200,000 people who were deported from France to the Nazi concentration camps during World War II.

The Memorial is located on Paris’ Île de la Cité, just behind Notre Dame. It is a place of remembrance and reflection on a sad and shameful page in French history. During the Vichy administration, more than 200,000 Jews, and other ‘undesirables’ were rounded up and deported to Nazi concentration camps. The vast majority were killed.

The simple memorial was designed by French architect, writer, teacher and town planner, Georges-Henri Pingusson, It was opened in April 1962 by the French President, General Charles de Gaulle.

The main chamber is long and narrow. Its dim lighting falls on 200,000 crystal rods, which are set into the walls to represent those who died. They gleam softly to create a pale, glowing surface.

At the end of the chamber, an eternal flame burns on the tomb of ‘the unknown deportee’. Buried there are the ashes of an unknown person. They are said to come from the Natzweiler-Struthof camp, which was in German-occupied Alsace, not far from Strasbourg.

Memorial of the Deportation Martyrs – think and remember

In the adjoining room, quotations from writers and philosophers been carved into the stone walls. Those represented are Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Jean-Paul Sartre, Paul Eluard, Louis Aragon and Robert Desnos.

Desnos was a poet and journalist – a strong critic of the Occupation and a supporter of the French Resistance. The Nazis became aware of his work and in February 1944 the Gestapo arrested him. After being moved between various concentration camps, he died of typhus, at the Theresienstadt camp (Terezin, in Czechoslovakia) in June 1945.

There is no common measure between free combat and being crushed in the night – Antoine de St. Exupéry

And the choice each one made about one’s life and one’s self was authentic since it was done in the presence of death – Jean-Paul Sartre

For the hearts that hated war were beating for liberty to the rhythm of the seasons and the tides of day and night – Robert Desnos

The Memorial of the Deportation is a place of quiet reflection. Visitors are asked to remain silent and respectful as they move through the area.

You can find out more about this tragic chapter in France’s history by visiting The Shoah Memorial.

See more recommendations from Francy That! about Things To Do in Paris.

Information

Entry cost: Admission is free
Opening times: The Memorial is open from Tuesday to Sunday – from 10am to 5pm (1 October to 31 March) and from 10am to 7pm (1 April to 30 September). 

Getting there

Address: Square de l’Ile-de-France, 7 Quai de l’Archevêché, 75004 Paris
Metro: Saint Paul (Line 1); Maubert Mutualité (Line 10)