The Rivesaltes Camp Memorial building

This month, the Rivesaltes Camp Memorial building

The Rivesaltes Camp witnessed the major conflicts seen in France, Europe and North Africa in the mid-20th century: the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War and the colonial wars.

Forced displacement, internment and seeing the Other as an undesirable constitute the common thread of these histories. Jews, Spaniards and Gypsies made up most of the population of internees under administrative detention from January 1941 onwards. In autumn 1942, Rivesaltes was even the inter-regional staging centre for the deportation of Jews of the southern zone – what Serge Klarsfeld has termed “the Drancy of the southern zone”.

Following Liberation, it was used for a time as an internment camp for collaboration suspects, before becoming an important camp for German prisoners of war. It remained a military camp and, after a number of different uses, it was involved in the Algerian War, serving as a staging camp for departing conscripts, as a prison for a few hundred members of the FLN, then as the main reception centre for harkis following the Évian Accords.

In 2006, architect Rudy Ricciotti won the competition to design the Memorial, in partnership with Aude-based design office Passelac & Roques.

Situating his design “between a need for emotion and a refusal to forgive”, Ricciotti chose to confront the subdued brutality of the site. Intent on not destroying any part of the camp’s memory, the building dreamed up by the architect occupies the only open space on the site, at the heart of Block F, on what was once the parade ground of the former military camp. Despite its imposing stature (200 metres long by 20 metres wide), the Memorial does not dwarf the surrounding remains. At the entrance, the roof emerges from the ground and gradually rises to the east, without exceeding the huts’ rooftops.

The Memorial offers no external views, other than the sky: “After two steps in the light, visitors find themselves in a place which, unbeknownst to them, is connected to the sky alone.”  Inside, only the teaching areas and café receive indirect sunlight from three courtyards.

N.B. All quotes are by the architect.

Find out more

• View our special page on the National day of remembrance of the harkis and other members of the auxiliary forces

• View the learning ressources offered by Rivesaltes Camp and visit its website

• Access the educational offerings of the remembrance sites

• Discover  the 2021 winners of the DPMA’s call for projects on the theme of “Innovative digital services for remembrance tourism”, including the “Rivesaltes VR” project