Paris During the Occupation Photo Exhibit

[Happygoin]

As a follow-up to the original thread (that I can't find), I wonder if anyone knows if this is on permanent exhibit anyplace in Paris.

I would dearly love to see it, and my teen ami is studying the Holocaust and I'd love for her to see it as well.

Thanks in advance for any info.

[Laidback]

Sept 10, 2008 11:31:55 GMT -5 Happygoin said:

As a follow-up to the original thread (that I can't find), I wonder if anyone knows if this is on permanent exhibit anyplace in Paris.

I would dearly love to see it, and my teen ami is studying the Holocaust and I'd love for her to see it as well.

Thanks in advance for any info.

This exhibit ended in July at the Bibliotheque of the Hotel de Ville. Are you familiar with the Shoah museum in the 4th? It has a huge amount of material on the holocaust, whereas the photo exhibit was done as Nazi propaganda and there was practically no hint of any thing but love and prosperity.

[Happygoin]

LB, are the same photos on display at the Shoah museum, then? I haven't been to the Shoah museum, but will go forthwith and find out where in the 4th it is.

Thank you very much!

[Laidback]

Sept 10, 2008 12:51:12 GMT -5 Happygoin said:

LB, are the same photos on display at the Shoah museum, then? I haven't been to the Shoah museum, but will go forthwith and find out where in the 4th it is.

Thank you very much!

Happy the photos you refer to are not, and probably never will be allowed, in the Shoah Memorial. They were Nazi approved and taken by a collaborationist photographer of smiling, happy Parisians enjoying the benevolent company of the occupying forces...not exactly factually correct but what propaganda is? The Shoah Memorial is very plaintive and should be required viewing for all French citizens, to witness the atrocities their puppet government participated in during these dark years. You can find the address and all pertinent info by clicking here. It is not difficult to locate as it is in central Paris between the Seine and Rue de Rivoli one block east of The St. Gervais church. Don't be surprised to finish the memorial's permanent exhibit in tears...Disney world it isn't.

[Shoesy]

I find it rather interesting that the name of the memorial in Paris contains the Hebrew word "Shoah" instead of the more commonly known word "Holocaust".

[Laidback]

Sept 11, 2008 0:14:38 GMT -5 Shoesy said:

I find it rather interesting that the name of the memorial in Paris contains the Hebrew word "Shoah" instead of the more commonly known word "Holocaust".

Shoesy i have very limited knowledge here but I think the term Shoah is used in France instead of holocaust as well. Perhaps Anne or Phread can enlighten us.

Whatever it is called it is quite a project; the 1st time I went there was a temporary exhibit by a death camp survivor who made it because of his talent as a sketch artist and he drew many touching pictures afterwards from memory which were on display. There is a section where you can search for victims by name and another which has tons of archives of the French government that were finally released by the Chirac administration after about 50 yrs. of official denials or silence.

[Happygoin]

Jim, I didn't realize that the photos in that exhibition were propaganda. Of course, it makes sense they wouldn't be in the Shoah museum.

My abiding interest in WWII history often has left me in tears, whether it's watching the History Channel or PBS, reading a book or hearing a lecture by a survivor. I expect the museum will be no different.

It may seem cruel to take my teen ami there when all she's hoping for is a nice trip to Paris, but she is studying the Holocaust in school and she won't get much better information than in this museum. And I believe that if we don't learn from history we'll repeat our mistakes.

Actually, I had already looked up and printed out the museum information, but thanks for the explanation.

[jo]

While visiting Pere Lachaisse cemetary this May, I was surprised and moved to see many memorial headstones dedicated to the victims of the concentration camp victims. The carvings were very poignant and some were horrific, but they served as a reminder of the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust. I found these to be the highlight of our visit to Pere Lachaisse and they have stayed etched in my memory.

Jo

[Happygoin]

Well, Jo, since my teen ami has requested a trip to Pere Lachaise, we'll have to watch for those memorials you mention. Thanks!

[Becky (Berkeleytravelers)]

Happy, I'm sure you've already been there, but if she has not you might want to take her to the memorial at the tip of Ile de la Cite. Also if you are in the countryside you will see memorials not only to the war dead (in combat) but also to the deported. (Perhaps in Paris also, I just recall it in Dordogne villages.)

Also I'm sure the observation about the use of "Shoah" is accurate. Did anyone else see the PBS show of that name, released about 20 years ago?). I watched because it's such an important subject, but it was hard to do. Somehow it made it even more horrifying to realize that to the Nazis, genocide was just a rather banal logistics issue.

[holger]

We had not done this the last two trips but may in March. We did, however, go to the Resistance Museum in Lyon last September and found it exceptionally well done. It has a section on the Shoah.

Happy, I imagine your teen ami will go or has gone to the museum in D.C.

[Anne]

To answer Jim's question/comments :

"Holocauste" is the French name, but then everyone knows what "Shoah" means .

Yes, the exhibition was about propaganda pictures, so it soon became highly controversial, quite a few officials even demanded that the Mairie de Paris cancel it, but it was maintained with warnings being displayed everywhere around about it being propaganda and life being not nice in Paris in those days ...

I think that ALL French citizens are very much aware of the atrocities - or at best cowardness - of the Pétain government and administration . But it is true that it was kept quiet for quite a long time . Reason is, after the worst collaborationnists were killed by the mob or the Résistants or sentenced by justice, De Gaulle decided that it was time for "Reconciliation Nationale" (as he called it) and so Résistance was glorified of course but collaboration was modestly "forgotten" . Also De Gaulle was very much aware of the fact that he couldn't afford to get rid of Pétain's administration (whose high ranking official were highly compromized, since all those who had refused to collaborate had been gotten rid of long ago) if he wanted to set the country in working order again . As much as I truly hate the idea that many culprits went unpunished, I think that De Gaulle acted as a true statesman here, putting the best immediate interests of the country before his own feelings : I guess that everyone knows about his wartime, and I know of at least one woman in his close family who was deported to Ravensbrück as a résistante . Anyway, that's how silence settled in ... There have been many years now since truth slowly came out and many dirty secrets were revealed, and there were quite a few huge scandals when it was revealed that some highly compromized members of Pétain's administration had made a brilliant career afterwards (Maurice Papon, René Bousquet, ...) and that even François Mitterrand had been a Vichy apparatchik at some point .

[sunshine817]

My high-school history classes were a bit unconventional -- we were shown the photos used at the trials of Nueremburg as part of the section on the Holocaust.

Some cried, some ran out of the room before being sick...I sat in horror, unable to move, and am still haunted by the images I saw.

'Schindler's List' was not a movie I can say I enjoyed...but it's a movie everyone should see. I'm not sure I could take a visit to one of the camps, even though I know I should see it, as well as taking my son when he is a little older.

Not a happy day on holiday, but an important lesson.

[Happygoin]

Holger, the teen ami went to D.C. when she was in junior high, so I'm fairly certain they did not go to the museum. I believe it may be deemed inappropriate for that age group.

Becky, I went to the Memorial de la Déportation last December. The young man who works there was just leaving for lunch and locked the gate. He took his lunch on a bench in the small park at the entrance to the memorial. I took a rest there as well. During this time, a youngish (25-30) couple came along and began dancing and generally making merry on the stones that form the memorial at ground level. The museum worker, of course, ran over and dressed them down soundly. I had a word with him afterward, both of us being disgusted with the behavior displayed at such a solemn place.

At any rate, it is a definite on our list for November. And, Anne, thank you for another history lesson.

[Becky (Berkeleytravelers)]

The Memorial de la Déportation made a huge impression on me when I first went there several years ago - first as to its subject matter, but also as to the artistic aspect, it was amazing how it conveyed the sense of unbearable confinement and subjugation in such a minimalist way.

[Happygoin]

That's what the man who worked there told me, Becky. I'm very interested to see it. Every time I've been by it, with the intention of visiting, it's been closed for reasons that are vague to me (I think it's one of those "French" things ) or is in the process of closing for lunch.

[Katharine]

My husband and I saw this exhibit at the Bibliotheque Histoire de la Ville in June. We felt it was such propaganda given the Nazi slant. It was quite moving, but certainly nothing like the true story of the atrocities. Nonetheless, well worth the time.

KH

[Laidback]

Sept 10, 2008 12:00:21 GMT -5 Laidback said:

Sept 10, 2008 11:31:55 GMT -5 Happygoin said:

As a follow-up to the original thread (that I can't find), I wonder if anyone knows if this is on permanent exhibit anyplace in Paris.

I would dearly love to see it, and my teen ami is studying the Holocaust and I'd love for her to see it as well.

Thanks in advance for any info.

This exhibit ended in July at the Bibliotheque of the Hotel de Ville. Are you familiar with the Shoah museum in the 4th? It has a huge amount of material on the holocaust, whereas the photo exhibit was done as Nazi propaganda and there was practically no hint of any thing but love and prosperity.

As often happens, I was wrong. The exhibition Paris Sous l'Occupation will continue to be at the Bibliotheque Historique de la Ville de Paris until July 1, 2009. This information is from this weeks Figaroscope

We enjoyed it last Spring for its Paris street scenes many in color because the Nazi propaganda machine supplied the rare color film. There were signs posted at the entrance that these pictures did not depict the whole truth. Interesting anyway.

[Happygoin]

Oh Laidback...that's just great! I can't tell you how much I regretted not being able to see this exhibit. Hopefully I'm not overdoing it with the teen ami by visiting three places associated with WWII:

The Memorial de la Déportation, the Shoah Museum and now the exhibit.

We'll be in Paris for nine days, so I'll spread the visits out.

Thank you!

[Laidback]

I enjoyed them all, but if forced to choose one it would be the Shoah Memorial. I just hope that the info in this weeks Figaroscope was not a misprint, because keeping the same exposition until next july would seem unusual, but I just re-read it and it does state until July'09. I will try to go by and verify it in person sometime during this trip.