This memorial opened to the public in January 2005, on the site of the Mémorial du Martyr Juif Inconnu (Memorial to the Unknown Jewish Martyr).

Situated at this turning point of the "century of genocides", open to the new century, the new institution is intended as a bridge between the men and women who were contemporaries of the Shoah and those who did not experience this period of history, either directly or through the mediation of their parents.

The Shoah Memorial is also a new phase in the transmission of the memory and the lessons of the Shoah, which so far had been essentially borne by the direct witnesses of the extermination of Jews of Europe.

Why and how should the Shoah be "taught" in the 21st century? Such issues are at the heart of the Memorial's mission, at the heart of the work of the historians, researchers and educators who come together here to be a source of inspiration open to all, ready to welcome the new generations.

This is a resource center, the first and foremost collection of archives on the Shoah in Europe, but it is also a "museum of vigilance", designed to learn, understand and experience, because now and forever it will always be necessary to construct "a rampart against oblivion, against a rekindling of hatred and contempt for man", to quote Eric de Rothschild, President of the Memorial.

17 rue Geoffroy l'Asnier 75004 Paris France

http://www.memorialdelashoah.org

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