Drancy concentration camp

Welcome to the northeastern suburbs of Paris, to the town of drahn-see. As you stand here looking at the sprawling, U-shaped complex of white buildings known as the Cité de la Muette, you are confronted with one of the most…

Take a moment to look closely at the massive, U-shaped building that encloses the courtyard. The sheer scale of the Cité de la Muette is imposing. …

The horror of Drancy truly began in the summer of nineteen forty-one. On August the twentieth of that year, a massive raid in the eleventh arrondissement of Paris resulted in the arrest of over four thousand Jewish men. …

The primary function of Drancy was not extermination on site, but logistical collection and dispatch. It was the central node connecting the Jews of France to the gas chambers of Poland. …

Amidst the overwhelming despair, there were incredible acts of resistance and an unyielding desire for survival. If you walk along the outer edge of the complex, near the Joliot-Curie gymnasium, you are walking above the site of…

Moving into the public memorial space adjacent to the buildings, your eye is immediately drawn to the central Monument to the Deportees, sculpted by Shlomo Selinger. Carved from pink granite, the monument consists of three…

Directly across from the historical site stands a modern white building: the Mémorial de la Shoah at Drancy, inaugurated in two thousand and twelve. This educational center provides the essential historical context that the…

As our solemn visit to the drahn-see concentration camp memorial comes to an end, take a final look at the Cité de la Muette. The juxtaposition remains deeply jarring: children playing on the sidewalks, traffic humming along the…