An updated scenographic presentation

The collections

For the very first time, the Museum’s collections will be showcased in a 300 m² itinerary, mainly focusing on the unique features of the Resistance in the urban context of the city of Lyon. This comprises the heart of the new project.

Photographic Archives

The new exhibition also highlights the work of three renowned photographers of the period: André Gamet, Charles Bobenrieth and Émile Rougé.

Educational department

Centre d'Histoire de la Résistance et de la Déportation

14 avenue Berthelot - 69007 Lyon

Tél : 04 78 72 23 11

www.chrd.lyon.fr

C.H.R.D press kit :

 In 2009, Montluc Prison was closed in favour of new facilities built outside Lyon.

On the demand of the prefect for the Rhône-Alpes region, the state services then protected a large part of the Montluc site as historic monuments, responding to the long-standing hope of remembrance and veterans associations and in particular the Montluc survivors association.

In addition to plans to protect the building, discussions were started in order to find ways to use the building to bear witness to the violence of the Nazi regime in Lyon and to open up the site to visitors.

Built in the 1920s, Montluc military prison stands opposite the fort of the same name in an industrial district of Lyon. After the armistice in 1940, the prison welcomed ordinary prisoners, soldiers and perpetrators of “anti-national activities”, essentially Gaullists and Communists. Following the invasion of the southern zone, in November 1942, the German requisitioned the prison and placed it under exclusive control. Montluc then became the place for the internment of resistance fighters, hostages and victims of “racial measures”, awaiting their departure for Drancy and deportation to the concentration and extermination camps. Montluc was managed with daily contact with the Gestapo headquarters on Avenue Bertholet – in the premises of the army medical school, where interrogations took place (currently occupied by the History of Resistance and Deportation Centre).

Close to the prison, a competent military court for the southern zone was set up in 1943. The capital sentences were likely pronounced at the shooting range in Doua (today the national necropolis). Other convicts were shot inside the actual prison, on the covered way at a point now known as the “Wall of the Executed” and still visible today. After the landing in June 1944, a number of massacres of prisoners took place in the towns surrounding Lyon, in retaliation to the Allied advance and resistance actions. Between April and August 1944, over 600 prisoners were executed thus in Saint-Didier de Formans, Toussieu, Bron and Saint-Genis-Laval, the main locations of the exactions. The massacre of Saint-Genis-Lavel on 20 August 1944, where 120 prisoners were murdered in abominable conditions, ignited a vigorous protest of Cardinal Gerlier by the German authorities. At the same time, Yves Farges, commissioner of the republic still living undercover, threatened to execute the same number of German prisons if the massacres continued. On 24 August, the prisoners were released both by the intervention of the resistance and the departure of the jailers, a week before the liberation of Lyon on 3 September.

The Memorial of Montluc Prison, inaugurated by France’s Prime Minister on 21 June 2010, joined the other sites managed by the Ministry of Defence, qualified as a major memorial site, and opened its doors to the public on the occasion of the European Heritage Days in 2010. Since then, the site continues to attract more and more visitors, making it a credible and complementary member in the network of regional places of remembrance alongside the History of Resistance and Deportation Centre in Lyon and the Jean Moulin Caluire Memorial, as well as, on a larger scale, Maison d’Izieu, a memorial to the murdered Jewish children. The Montluc Memorial contributes to the discussions introduced by the problems specific to remembrance sites, both scientifically and historically and in terms of hosting and educating the public.

Memorial to Montluc Prison
1 rue Jeanne Hachette 69003 Lyon

C’est à Caluire et Cuire, le 21 juin 1943, que Jean Moulin, représentant personnel du Général de Gaulle, chef des Mouvements Unis de la Résistance et président du Conseil National de la Résistance, fait ses derniers pas d’homme libre. En début d’après-midi, il sera arrêté par Klaus Barbie et la Gestapo avec 7 résistants responsables de l’Armée Secrète. Les suites de cette arrestation furent tragiques : Jean Moulin fut torturé et mourut lors de son transfert vers l’Allemagne.

La maison du Docteur Dugoujon, devenue Mémorial Jean Moulin en 2010, est inscrite à l’Inventaire des Monuments historiques et labellisée « Maison des Illustres ». Réhabilitée dans le respect de son aspect originel, elle constitue l’une des traces les plus importantes et bien conservées de la Résistance française dans la région de Lyon. Trois salles mémorielles permettent d’imaginer le cadre de l’arrestation du 21 juin 1943. La salle multimédia est un espace non mémoriel aménagé en sous-sol dans l'ancienne cave du docteur. Elle permet au visiteur d'approfondir ses connaissances et ses réflexions sur la période à travers des outils numériques et une scénographie repensée autour de la citoyenneté et des valeurs de la République.

It was responsible , thanks to the weaponry it contained (155 mm and 120 mm artillery pieces - 220 mm mortars) for preventing any enemy from crossing the heights of Chassieu or St-Priest and advancing towards Lyon, or setting up their own canons, which would then have been able to bomb the town. Trapezoid in shape, which is a characteristic of polygonal fortifications, the length of its perimeter was protected by a dry moat, which prevented the central structure from being surrounded by an infantry attack. Its buildings were covered with a mass of earth in order to absorb the effects of projectiles (an anti-impact layer). In the event of war, its garrison was increased to 841 artillery and infantrymen. More than 1500 m² of stores of various kinds housed provisions and munitions, food supplies, fuel and equipment etc.

History: Advances in artillery quite rapidly rendered this type of fortification obsolete and unsuitable. Nevertheless, the deterrent factor of any fortress could never be totally removed. It remained partly armed up until 1914. After 1920, it had only a logistical role for the nearby air base. It would be occupied by German troops in 1942, and finally given to the urban community of Lyon (la communauté urbaine de Lyon or COURLY) in 1975, to be used as a support building for the enormous water reservoirs. The town of Bron uses it for storing council equipment, for which the COURLY has granted a long lease in return for a modest rent.
The Association of the fort de Bron, created in 1982, brings together all the people and associations who want to contribute to the development, improvement and running of the place. Its administrative committee, with two permanent elected officers from the BRON district, defines the work that needs to be done and participates in the research work on future projects carried out by the council. A sports track and circular walk have been created. A long-term programme is planned for the renovation and conservation of the Fort: access to most of the moats, making some of the rooms in the Fort available for public use and the temporary opening of part of the interior for cultural, community and theatrical events.
The association is particularly keen to promote the historical heritage of this example of military architecture from the end of the 19th century. On the first Sunday of every month it organises free guided tours of the Fort and its museum, from 1.30 to 4.30 pm in winter and 2 to 5 pm in summer. It also organises occasional tours for associations and schools (requests to be addressed to the cultural department of the mairie).
It takes part in Heritage days and holds an artwork exhibition on the first Saturday and Sunday in October. The Fort de Bron belongs to the fortified defence system set up around Lyon after the war of 1870, at the instigation of General Séré de Rivières, who was responsible for fortifications on a national level. One room in the Fort bears his name. A museum is in the process of being established, with new documents and photographs from the period, as well as a visual display showing the different parts of the fort.
Fort de Bron Avenue Maréchal de Tassigny 69500 Bron Association du fort de Bron Bt 74 Maison des sociétés square Grimma 69500 Bron Tel: + 33 (0)6 60 65 25 23 E-mail: chaandre@numericable.fr

In West Africa, tata is a Wolof word meaning “plot of sacred land”, the place where warriors killed in combat are buried.

In Chasselay, in the Rhône, this name takes on its true meaning when you delve into the local annals and learn the history of the events that took place here during the Second World War.

The battles

On 19 and 20 June 1940, ignorant of the fact that Lyon had just been declared an “open city”, the 25^th Senegalese Infantry Regiment confronted the German army in Chasselay and the surrounding area.

Despite their bravery, they were finally forced to lay down arms. The battles were terminated by the massacre of African prisoners by the SS division Totenkopf (Death’s Head).

The tata

Rectangular in shape, surrounded by high walls surmounted on each corner and above the entrance by a spiked pyramid, the tata is architecturally inspired by Sudanese architecture.

The massive oak door bears eight different stylised sculpted masks displaying idols that keep watch over the deceased at rest. The surrounding walls and grave stones are red ochre in colour.

The cemetery holds the remains of 196 infantrymen of various nationalities from West Africa. They originated from Senegal but also Burkina Faso (Upper Volta at the time), Dahomey, Sudan, Chad and other nations.

The origins of the cemetery

This unique building in France is owed to Jean Marchiani. A veteran of the war of 1914-1918, in 1940 he held the position of General Secretary of the Departmental Office of disabled ex-servicemen, veterans and victims of war.

As soon as he heard about the events of 19 and 20 June, he decided to bring together the bodies of the African soldiers, some of whom were buried in local cemeteries while others were often simply left to lay in ditches in the middle of the countryside.

After identifying the villages where bodies were buried, Jean Marchiani bought a plot of land in Chasselay, near the locality of Vide-Sac where 50 Senegalese prisoners were shot by the enemy, and raised funds. He was backed by General Doyen, former commander of the Army of the Alps, and Senegal Deputy Calendou Diouf.

The inauguration took place on 8 November 1942, three days before the invasion of the free zone by the Germans.

This memorial and site for contemplation was classified as a national cemetery in 1966. The property of the Ministry of Defence, it is managed by the interdepartmental department of veterans’ affairs for the Rhône-Alpes region.

Nécropole nationale de Chasselay (Chasselay National Cemetery)

Getting there: Take the D100 in the direction of Les Chères Chasselay (Rhône)

Opening times: 10 am to 6 pm

Guided tours: 10 am to 12 pm and 2-5 pm

Admission: free of charge