In the famous Marais district, at the heart of Paris' 4th arrondissement, stands the very moving Shoah Memorial, a memorial site and a leading European institution specialising in the history of the Holocaust. This memorial site opened in 2005 to mark the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp, and houses a museum of Jewish history during the Second World War, as well as a Jewish documentation centre with the largest archive of its kind in Europe. When visiting the Memorial, discovering the Wall of Names is always an emotional moment. This memorial is engraved with the names of the 76,000 Jews who were deported from France - men, women and children. There is also a Wall of the Just paying tribute to the 2,693 French people who were brave enough to protect Jewish people during the Second World War. A symbol of the six million Jews who received no proper burial, the crypt contains the tomb of the Unknown Jewish Martyr and an eternal flame, encouraging visitors to reflect.
Accessible via the Pont Marie or Saint-Paul metro stations, the Memorial regularly hosts temporary exhibitions as well as educational activities, screenings, symposiums and conferences on the history of the Holocaust.
