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80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz: 3 exhibitions about the Holocaust to see in Paris

undefined undefined 27 janvier 2025 undefined 17h00

The Editor

© Mémorial de la Shoah - Shutterstock - EricBery

On January 27, 1945, the soldiers of the Red Army entered the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp to uncover the horrors of the Holocaust. Nearly a million Jews lost their lives in this concentration and extermination camp between 1940 and 1945, out of the six million exterminated by Nazi Germany. 

Here are 3 Parisian exhibitions that help to keep the memory alive around this genocide. 

1. How the Nazis Photographed Their Crimes. Auschwitz 1944

In the 1950s, just five years after the end of World War II, what is commonly known as the "Auschwitz Album" was discovered. It refers to the thousands of photographs taken by SS soldiers to show Nazi leaders that they were perfectly orchestrating the "," a strategy aimed at exterminating Jews in concentration camps, particularly at Auschwitz-Birkenau. From January 23rd until next fall, 200 of these photographs are on display at the Memorial of the Shoah. These black-and-white images depict women, men, children, and the elderly waiting on the train platform, to be chosen for work—and to live, or to die.

Beyond the obvious cruelty, the exhibition aims to "show what we don't see even though it's right under our noses," according to historian and scientific curator Tal Bruttmann. With the help of explanatory panels and audio descriptions, it analyzes the details that help us understand the organization of deportation and "selection".

How the Nazis Photographed Their Crimes. Auschwitz 1944
Shoah Memorial
17, rue Geoffroy l'Asnier - 4th
Until November 13, 2025
More info


2. Pierre Fertil's Concentration Camp Experience 

"For decades, my nights were nothing but nightmares", often shares the resistant Pierre Fertil with his listeners. He was among the 51 Jews from the towns of Plonévez-Porzay and Crozon who were deported to the labor camp of Neuengamme (Germany) on June 30, 1944. 

During his confinement, Pierre Fertil did not create. He survived. But years later, he began to tell the hell he experienced throughdrawings on newspaper and other materials. And while many were destroyed by sa self-made creator, around one hundred works are preserved in Normandy. Now it's the turn of Parisian art and history enthusiasts to have access to these treasures at the Museum of Liberation. The establishment is also complementing its commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the discovery of Auschwitz with an exhibition on the history of the "31,000", the first major deportation convoy of resistant women and victims of repression. 

The Concentrationary Universe of Pierre Fertil
Museum of the Liberation of Paris
4, avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy - 14th arrondissement
Until February 2, 2025
More info 


3. The Forgotten Battles of the Free French Forces

During World War II, the Free French Forces (FFL) are the armed forces united under the banner of Free France led by General de Gaulle. In an effort to establish a united France in the fight, they cease to exist on August 1, 1943, and are merged with the Army of Africa to form the French Army of Liberation. Two groups continue the fight: the first free French division ("1st DFL") and, to a lesser extent, the second armored division ("2nd DB").

In this exhibition, the Army Museum, located in the National Hotel of Invalides, highlights one of their major victories, yet still largely unknown to the public: the liberation of the Vosges and Alsace in the autumn of 1944. After regrouping in Nod-sur-Seine, in Côte d’Or, the troops who landed in Normandy and Provence marched towards the Vosges and Alsace – where the German army had retreated and reorganized – facing particularly tough battles during a harsh winter. They liberated Strasbourg on November 23, 1944, and Colmar on February 2, 1945.

The Forgotten Battles of the Free French Forces
Army Museum
129, rue de Grenelle - 7th
Until March 30, 2025
More info