Centre européen du résistant déporté

The archival documents The camp’s history could be partially reconstituted based on Nazi archives. Many collections were made available to the Department of Memory, Heritage and Archives (DMPA) in charge of the project, which chose hundreds of documents from various organisations. The main ones are:

• The BundesArchiv (federal archives), Berlin and Koblenz;
• USHMM (US Holocaust Memorial and Memorial), Washington;
• International Committee of the Red Cross, Geneva;
• The SIR, Red Cross, Arolsen;
• The archives of the French occupation in Austria and Germany (BOFAA), (ministry of foreign affairs), Colmar;
• The National Archives, Paris;
• The archives of military justice (ministry of defence), Le Blanc (Indre);
• The archives of victims of contemporary conflicts (ministry of defence /SHD), Caen;
• The Political Science Foundation, Paris;
• Municipal and departmental archives in France;
• Collections in memorial subcamp museums in Germany;
• Private collections in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, France, etc.

Archival documents, photographs and drawings The interactive terminals in the lobby focus on the main Nazi concentration and extermination camps. The reproductions of archival documents, photographs, posters and drawings on display there are based on originals belonging to camp memorials in Germany, Poland, Austria and archives and photo agencies in France and other countries. Each terminal has a database with approximately 100 documents.

The permanent exhibition in the Kartoffelkeller displays nearly 400 reproductions of photographs, posters and archival documents tracing the history of Europe from 1919 to the present day. The collections of many press agencies, public and private archives, museums and foundations have been explored in France and elsewhere to create a sweeping overview of resistance against Nazism throughout Europe. The films You Who Live and Greetings Dear Brother were made from photographs that were mostly unknown to the general public, collected from museums and photo agencies in approximately 10 European countries.

The objects Items from the main concentration and extermination camps are on display in the lobby. They have been donated by the camps’ memorials, the Holocaust Museum in Washington and the national association of deportees and families of those who died in Mauthausen and its kommandos. A broken monocle, piece of a comb, little rag doll and chemistry book bear witness to daily life in the camps or to life “before”. A Zyklon B cannister, barracks sign and part of a disinfection vat evoke death and horror.