Names on the wall

It has become almost like a habit for me to google any foreign city I am traveling to, to see if they have a Jewish museum in town. Surprisingly, quite many capitals or otherwise large cities do have one (Helsinki being the obvious exception here). I have visited Jewish museums in Athens (Greece), New York City, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and now most recently, Paris.

In many languages the word “holocaust” is the brand name for what happened to the Jews in WWII. This word of Greek origin, meaning whole/everything burnt, has found its way to most of the languages of the world. But the French language - bien sûr - is different. They use the Hebrew word “shoah” (meaning calamity) instead. Hence, voilà, in Paris you can find a museum called Mémorial de la Shoah.

Nearby the memorial, these signs will guide you to your destination.

In fact, there are two Jewish museums in Paris that I could find. Pressed for time, I had to choose one and opted for the Shoah Museum - a very dark theme to explore in a city known famous for its Light. Dragging along a very hesitant and unwilling companion, we buzzed the museum door and after a quick security check (very Israeli of them, by the way!) could roam free the inner court of the museum.

The outside and inner court of the museum are dominated by walls. There is a wall dedicated for the French people who helped Jews during the times of despair. A wall much bigger, with a lot more names on it, 76.000 to be exact, is a list of all those French Jewish men, women and children who were deported from France.

Names of the just people.

And the deported ones.

Inside, the museum is quite formal (much so, as there is no funky gift shop but just a bookstore). Unlike the other Jewish museums I have visited, this one stays in the subject and really, true to its name, concentrates on the Shoah. There are countless original photographs, posters, private letters to tell the story we all are familiar with. Yet, every time I am left speechless by it. And this time embarrassed, too, as Finland is marked in the maps on the same level as Hungary, Romania and other allies of Germany.

Antisemitism isn't anything new. It started already in 597 B.C.

Nazi-German propaganda on racial features, here children used as examples.

All railroads of Europe lead to Auschwitz back then....

Yellow stars were produced in France, too. The Dutch wrote "Jood", here in French "Juif".

A map of European countries during the war. Finland listed as scum with the rest of them.

Clothes of a survivor.

Mémorial de la Shoah is Europe's biggest information center on the subject and since there is no entrance free, a visit there should not take much effort if you are in Paris.  The museum is consequently located in the Jewish area of Paris known as Marais, but I will write more about that in another post...

In the memory of all those who were lost.