Weeks of Remembrance in Paris
March 29, 2024
On Friday, January 19, 2024, a few days before the official commemoration of the Deportation, I got to know a new school: 23 avenue du Parc des Princes, in Saint-Cloud.
Armelle Gonzalez-de-Trébons is the new head there. Two final-year primary classes were waiting for me, girls and boys – almost two hours during which “Les Petits Princes 1 and 2”, with curious eyes and attentive faces, let their questions fly, with the Marcel network as the backdrop.
Then, in a breathless race of Memory, of the fragment of History to be told, there I was on January 25 in the now familiar class of Vanessa Lucas at 59 rue de Romainville in the 19th.
January 19 and 25, 2024: how can I separate these two events, almost identical in content and in the personalities of the teachers who initiated them? In previous years they shared their knowledge and their way of being with final-year primary pupils in the same place (the Romainville school). During the Week of Remembrance, both took ten-year-olds on a week-long memorial journey, taking them from the Mémorial de la Shoah to the Museum of the Order of the Liberation, the Paris Archives and the Memorial of the Deportation, with the story of the Marcel network running through it all.
The week ended with a highlight in both schools: the “Chant des Partisans” and poems in front of the plaque bearing the names of the children of the school and the neighbourhood who were deported. Officials and parents were present, but above all – in the spirit of passing on that these teachers wanted – Year 5 pupils.
A few comments exchanged between the pupils of these two year groups give us hope that these little seeds will flower… see you next year!!!
The commemoration at the school by the Year 5/Year 6 pupils, “Les Petits Princes”: how the Year 5 pupils felt at the commemoration
The Year 6 pupils shared their remembrance work with us. They recited poems and then sang a song. Sarah
It is important to talk about racism. Well done, Year 6!
Inès
It was amazing!
Elyssa
The poems were moving and well learnt. The song was dark, like the poems, but it makes you want to pass it on to the future Year 5s.
Ambre
Dear Year 6, I enjoyed the ceremony on racism and antisemitism, and the poems, the letters and the “Chant des Partisans” that you recited.
Timéo
I was impressed by the Year 6s’ courage – it was amazing!
Léa
Dear Year 6, it made me laugh and it scared me, because I’ll have to sing like that too in Year 6, and I don’t like singing… I thought: “Poor Year 6s, it must have been hard to learn all that – I’m scared for myself when I’m in Year 6!” Year 6s, you did hard work, but I’m scared of doing that.
Saida
Dear Year 5, it was important for me to share this period of the Shoah with you; for me, it is the darkest period in History. I hope you will get involved in this remembrance work.
Sana
We passed the flame on to you to tell you never to do that and never to say that someone is of an inferior race.
Thomas
We gave the flame of memory to the Year 5s. We hope they liked it, because next year it will be their turn to pass the flame to the future Year 5s.
Maya
Dear Year 5, we have passed on to you the flame of freedom. Soon it will be your turn to do it. It was the most stressful day of my life!
Jade
Dear Year 5, thanks to this commemoration I hope you will act when you are adults so that we never have to live through a period like the Shoah again.
Ramatoulaye
Dear Year 5, you were attentive all the way through despite the stammering and the stress. I was proud to do this project against antisemitism, even though the period of the Shoah is very dark. I hope you understand how important this fight is.
Nour
Dear Year 5, I give you the flame of memory. Thanks to this commemoration, I hope you will understand how important it is never to discriminate…
And the Year 6 pupils of Romainville
