Description: A spot that I never heard of, but very near and dear to my brother-in-law's heart is (big kudos to him for pointing this one out to my wife and I) the Memorial de la Deportation. This a really moving memorial to the French men and women who were deported from France to concentration camps in Germany during World War II. It is really striking. Down a narrow staircase lies a stark, open courtyard of granite. There is virtually no adornment, and it is somewhat confusing in its austerity. From the courtyard leads another uninviting staircase down into darkness. Here is the true memorial. We entered into a room with antechambers on each side and a long hallway behind bars leading off in front. Each of the antechambers has the names of concentration camps carved in them with quotations engraved in the walls. The hallway at the back of the main room contains the Tomb of the Unknown Deportee and 200,000 crystals each lit with a light and representing the 200,000 French "deportees." Carved into a plaque on the floor is engraved the rather chilling statement (translated from french by my brother) "They went to another part of the earth, and they didn't come back." One thing I found a little surprising is that there was no mention anywhere in the memorial of Jews. Everywhere it refers on to "deportees." Granted that the Germans executed homosexuals, enemies of the German state, and other groups as well as Jews, the Jewish people did make up the lions share of the "deportees", so it is a bit surprising to see that aspect of the deportation left out. To be honest, we saw my brother feeling a bit glum when we went into the memorial. I found it so moving that I had to spend some time just sitting and thinking before we could go on. I think it was the right thing to do. My wife's brother spent 7 years in a concentration camp in Vietnam once the South fell to the communists, so I could see how a memorial like this could have meaning to him. It was the saddest part of our trip, but necessary nevertheless.
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