Do you see this dark slate memorial? It is one of over 300 installed on school facades throughout Paris. This is À la mémoire de Marie Jezequel Plaque. It asks us to remember murdered children. It also admits the Vichy government’s responsibility. The French police were complicit.
Since 1997, these plaques mark schools attended by deported children. These children were taken from their families. They were sent to Auschwitz. Mayor Bertrand Delanoe initiated the plaques’ installation. He worked with Jewish organizations. L’association Mémoire Juive de Paris was involved. It is associated with the Shoah Memorial.
These plaques are moving reminders. They make Parisians and visitors pause. More than 1000 such plaques exist in Paris. They commemorate heroes and victims of World War II.
Between 1942 and 1944, over 70000 French Jews were deported. Fewer than 2500 survived. Among them were 11400 children. Over 6000 Parisian children died in death camps. À la mémoire is dedicated to these children.
Plaques have appeared since Paris’s liberation. They exist throughout the city and France. The texts vary but the impact remains. These plaques serve as visual testimonies. They mark events and people in French history. This spans the French Revolution to the World Wars. It includes great cultural and artistic figures.
Commemorative plaques mark important events or people. They are often on building walls or public places. They can be bronze, stone, or ceramic. Inscriptions explain the commemorated event or person.
Plaques have been used in France for centuries. They commemorate important events. During the French Revolution, they marked events. These events led to the monarchy’s fall. Plaques also marked important battles. The Battle of Waterloo is one example.
Over the years, plaques became important in French culture. They commemorate famous people. They mark significant events in French history. Plaques in Paris address the liberation. They address facts of war. They address the Resistance. They address the persecution of Jews. The persecution of Jews was essentially addressed from the 1990s.
The plaques about the liberation of Paris appeared soon after. This was around August 25 1944. They are a tangible sign against forgetting. They perpetuate the moment and place of remembrance. They sacralize it. They often include the phrase “Here fell”.
These plaques represent a unique meeting. It is a meeting of an intimate past. It is a meeting of our common history in the street. They remind us of a significant historical event. They offer a sacred place for reflection. Loved ones fell under enemy fire. It happened in this street. It happened in front of this building.
Take a moment to reflect on Marie Jezequel. Remember the countless other children. Their lives were tragically cut short. This plaque stands as a powerful reminder. It is a reminder of the past. It is a call for vigilance. It is a call for compassion in the present and future.