Mont-Mouchet can be found in grandiose and stunning countryside, at the heart of the Margeride forest, 1335 metres above sea level, between the départements of Cantal, Haute-loire and Lozère. It was here, from 20th May 1944, that one of the five major Maquis in France was established, under Colonel Gaspard, Regional Commander of the F.F.I for zone R6. On 2nd June 1944, it was attacked for the first time by a German battalion. Then, on 10th and 11th June, 2,200 Wehrmacht soldiers, unleashed fierce fighting here against the Maquis fighters. Forced back to the "La Truyère Reduit", the maquisards suffered an even heavier assault on 20th June, forcing them to lose contact. After the fighting at Mont-Mouchet, the reconstituted F.F.I. companies, split into 20 guerrilla warfare zones, harried the Nazi troops almost everywhere throughout the four Auvergne départements until the Liberation of France. Throughout the sector, losses were severe on both the F.F.I and German sides. Several villages were destroyed. With the approval and support of General de Gaulle, the National Monument to the French Resistance and Maquis was erected here and inaugurated on 9th June 1946, the work of Parisian sculptor Raymond Coulon. Each year at the end of June, a major Remembrance Gathering is held at the foot of the monument.

The first museum was established in the Forestry Centre, rebuilt after the Liberation on the site of the one destroyed in the fighting, which had housed the General Staff of the F.F.I. This was replaced by a new building, financed by National and Regional Government and opened on 8th May 1989. This museum to the Resistance houses a fascinating collection of material and documents recalling the situation in which France found itself in 1939, the four years of German occupation, Pétain's doctrine, the Gestapo, Deportation, the Resistance, etc. A video details the fighting at Mont-Mouchet, Saugues and La Truyère. Tour duration approx. 1 hour.

Musée de la Résistance du Mont-Mouchet 43300 Auvers Tel.: +33 (0) 471 74 11 28 / 11 91 Fax: +33 (0) 471 74 11 91 p.koller@haut-allier.com

Opening times From April 1 to September 30: daily except Monday in May, June and September from 10:00 to 12:30 and 14:00 to 18:00.

Group visits welcome during the week by appointment

Prices children under 10 : free Children aged 10 and over, school groups: €2 Age 15 and over: €5 Groups (minimum 20 people): €4

The part of the blockhouse that you can see is only 10% of its surface area. Almost entirely underground, the command post of the Graf Spee battery is one of the largest bunkers in the region. 

Set over five floors and with 500 sqm of exhibitions, the one-way circuit begins beneath the reception, in the quarters of the 25 soldiers who defended the position.  In rooms restored to exactly how they were then, discover what everyday life was like on the Atlantic Wall, through captivatingly realistic decors.

The subsequent levels immerse you in the atmosphere of the war years in Brittany: blitzkrieg, Stalags, occupation, Free France, collaboration, Resistance, fighting for Brest, liberation, and so on. Numerous anecdotes make this a moving encounter with the men and women who experienced the war, right here.

Return to the daylight on the level of the observation stations and panoramic viewpoint, offering unique views of the entrance to Brest harbour, from the Presqu’île de Crozon to Ouessant.

The tour ends with a walk around the site, where visitors can see the other short-range defence blockhouses, together with a variety of impressive equipment.

Sources: ©Musée Mémoires 39-45

Tourist office: Boulevard de la Mer, Plougonvelin - Tel.: +33 (0)2 98 48 25 94

The new visitor circuit presents the important strategic issues for the department of the Ain in the Second World War, situating them within the regional, national and European context.

Interspersed with personal accounts, the exhibition also reflects on the engagement of local men and women, charting their struggle against the German occupiers and Vichy regime to restore the Republic and freedom. It also sheds new light on the repression and persecution of civilians, Resistance members and Jews in the Ain.

Imbued with the spirits of its Resistance and deportee founders, the museum questions the construction of remembrance post-1945 and its contemporary uses. Through the history of the Ain, it is the France of the years 1939-45 that is revealed.

Sources : ©Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation de l’Ain - ©Agathe GAUBERT

Office de Tourisme Haut-Bugey, Nantua - Tel.: +33 (0)4 74 12 11 57

 Founded in 1992 by former members of the Resistance, eager to pass on the memory of all those who fought for liberation and for victory over Nazi barbarity, the museum takes visitors on a journey through the history of the Second World War in the department. Drawing on rich archives, the exhibition sheds light on specific features of the Ardèche Resistance: underground presses, pamphlet distribution, parachute drops and acts of sabotage. The museum’s founding organisation defines its purpose as follows: “Our museum is not dedicated to any unit, movement or leader in particular, but to the Resistance, which was a collective effort.”

 Located in the commune of Le Teil, the museum tells the story of the Resistance across the department. It is therefore not a local history museum, although the local Resistance is mentioned. Similarly, although references are made to links with other departments, the museum is devoted above all to the particularities of the Ardèche Resistance, and its role in the liberation of the department.

The archive put together by the museum’s founding organisation was registered with the departmental archives, then, in 1996, donated to the department. Catalogued under number 70J, it can be consulted by anyone wishing to research the history of the Second World War in the Ardèche. The archive continues to grow as a result of regular donations and collections.   

The museum has been run since 2010 by the Rhône-Helvie community of communes which, in 2017, became the Ardèche Rhône Coiron community of communes. It is maintained by the Ardèche departmental authority and the commune of Le Teil. It offers a varied cultural programme and a learning programme for schools.

2017 programmation

- Learning programme: workshops, self-guided tours with a specially designed questionnaire, help with preparing for the Concours national de la Résistance et de la Déportation (a competition for middle- and high-school students) and the loan of touring exhibitions. All activities for school students are free (regardless of age group or the geographical location of the educational establishment concerned).

Sources : © Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation en Ardèche

Office de tourisme - Place Pierre Semard, 07400 Le Teil - Tél.: 04 75 49 10 46

In a cinematographic setting inspired by poetic realism, a collection of more than 10 000 objects and documents evokes the daily lives of French people under the Occupation, while first-hand accounts from members of the Resistance in Vaucluse shed light on the profound motivations behind their actions, situated in the national context. Finally, a third section, “Freedom of the Spirit”, offers an in-depth look at “wartime intelligence” and Resistance ideals, what they meant and how they were taught. It comprises a series of underground editions, subject to censorship or sent from abroad, of militant magazines, manuscripts by René Char, Georges Rouault, André Breton, etc., and original works by Henri Matisse and Joan Miró, among others.

The museum also has: 

• a research and documentation centre (open to all by appointment), where information and archives in all media can be consulted and documents borrowed and copied.
• a bookshop selling a range of books on the period 1939-45 (general, thematic, new releases)
• an auditorium and a projection room, which can be booked for symposiums, seminars and exhibitions.

You can visit the museum unguided, and group bookings (minimum 10 people) are taken throughout the year.

Audioguides in English, French and German are available to visitors free of charge.

Guided tours, scripted booklets and educational workshops (art, writing, philosophy, etc.) mean school visits can be tailored to different age groups. Original trails around the museum’s collections or on the theme of this year’s “Concours National de la Résistance et de la Déportation” schools competition can be arranged with the museum’s education service.

Sources : ©Musée d’Histoire Jean Garcin : 39-45 L’Appel de la Liberté

* A slice of history

Devoted to the regional Resistance, the Musée de la Résistance in Bondues aspires to pass on the intellectual and moral heritage of Resistance fighters in the Nord region, and to recall the universal scope of their struggle.

The permanent exhibition, devised by a team of former Resistance members and teachers, aims to be as educational as possible. Comprising five rooms, structured around the Resistance values of memory, refusal, courage, engagement and sacrifice,

it introduces visitors to the motives, methods and organisation of the regional Resistance in 1940-44.

The museum also offers specific activities and temporary exhibitions exploring other aspects of the Resistance and occupation (e.g. war caricatures, virtual exhibition on racial persecution, exhibition on resistance during the First World War).

* A duty of care

For museum staff, preserving and respecting the spirit of these Resistance fighters also means perceiving the resonances with the contemporary world.   This duty of care is all the more important because, ever since its founding, the Musée de la Résistance has worked in partnership with Lille education authority and carries out educational outreach work with schoolchildren across the region. In this context, each year the museum receives more than 3 000 pupils, 70% of them from middle schools (ages 11 to 15).

* A concern for scientific rigour

The partnership with the education department found concrete expression in 1998, with the setting up of an education service run by a history teacher, which was assigned the task of helping middle and high-school pupils prepare for the Concours National de la Résistance et de la Déportation competition. The museum also works regularly with the IRHiS (Institute of Historical Research of the North - University of Lille III), organising biennial symposia on an agreed theme: Representations and memories of the Resistance (2012), The purge following the Second World War (2014), Culture, occupation and resistance in Belgium and northern France (2016).

The museum collections

* The paper archives:

These comprise posters (Vichy propaganda and orders of the regional authorities, notices of execution and prohibition issued by the German authorities), magazines and publications, letters from the German command, underground newspapers and pamphlets, identity papers, family photographs and personal documents of Resistance members, letters and certificates of Resistance membership.

* The objects:

The preserved objects include German, British, American and French weapons from the two world wars, German uniforms, wirelesses, printing equipment for underground newspapers, armbands of Resistance groups, everyday objects belonging to deportees, medals and flags.

The archive collection is open by arrangement to students, researchers and any individual visitors wishing to view it.

The museum also has a documentary collection comprising video footage and memoirs of people who lived through the war, and books and historical research published after the war. It is expanded every year with new acquisitions.

A large part of our collections is promoted via the website www.memoire14-45.eu

Sources: ©Musée de la Résistance de Bondues

The organisation

Founded in 1997, the organisation behind the project to set up an Arles and Area Resistance and Deportation Centre (CRDA) has three aims:

- Promote the research, collection and conservation of any documents concerning the period 1939-45 in the Arles area, and collect personal accounts from Resistance fighters and/or deportees.

- Share local history of the Second World War, through educational activities for school groups and cultural events for the general public.

- Through that history, encourage people to think about the republican values championed by the Resistance: liberty, democracy and human rights.

The project

Made accessible to the young by the very way it is presented, the project of the Arles Area Resistance and Deportation Centre demonstrates a desire to establish a link between past and present, by recalling that democracy should never be taken for granted and citizenship and human rights must be defended everywhere, every day.

The centre’s goal is to encourage people to reflect on the ideologies and ways of thinking that can lead to dictatorship, fascism and the stigmatisation of certain groups.

The future CRDA’s permanent exhibition will be structured around five themes, in addition to an introduction and conclusion: the Vichy regime and occupation; resistance; repression and deportation; liberation; and the legacy of the Resistance.

Resource centre

The CRDA’s collections comprise:

- over 3 000 books, classified by theme;

- archives (pamphlets, posters, administrative reports, extracts of correspondence, etc.) and a photographic collection obtained from private sources, which are concerned with the history of the Second World War in the Arles area (36 communes);

- documentation;

- audiovisual documents (eyewitness accounts, papers, songs, etc.);

- collections of objects relating to daily life (wireless sets, school materials, etc.), the Resistance (underground printers, radio equipment, containers for parachute drops, weapons), occupation (Nazi armbands, German helmets) and the battles of liberation (weapons, clothing, etc.).

Learning activities

Approved by the education ministry, the organisation offers a series of educational activities about the Second World War in the Arles area, for primary, middle and high-school students.

These activities mostly involve a local perspective and use a range of media (living eyewitnesses, collections and archives, guided tours, educational workshops).

Cultural programme

The future centre’s cultural programme is already structured around two main events:

- The Journées de la Mémoire. In February and March each year, the organisation puts on a temporary exhibition on the themes of resistance and deportation. This involves carrying out new research into local history, and enriching and developing the organisation’s collections.  The ‘Remembrance Days’ are brought to life by a whole series of cultural events (concerts, films, conferences, talks, etc.) for a varied audience, organised in partnership with the town’s different cultural organisations.

- The Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie. Since 2013, in the summer season, the future CRDA’s exhibition spaces have hosted photographic displays on themes relating to peace, freedom and human rights, with the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie.

Sources: © Centre de la Résistance et de la Déportation d’Arles et du pays d’Arles

Le musée de la Résistance en Argoat s’inscrit dans un lieu porteur de mémoire. C’est au cœur de la forêt voisine de Coatmallouen que se met en place, à partir du début du mois de juillet 1944, le maquis de Plésidy-St Connan-Coatmallouen. Fort de plusieurs centaines d’hommes, il affronte les troupes d’occupation lors des combats du 27 juillet 1944. Il participe ensuite à la libération de Guingamp et de sa région. Certains résistants du maquis partiront se battre sur le front de Lorient jusqu’au printemps 1945 tandis que d’autres prendront la route de l’est pour marcher jusqu’à Berlin.

The Museum of the Resistance in Argoat stands on a site steeped in memory. Deep in the nearby forest of Coatmallouen, the maquis (rural guerrilla group) of Plésidy-Saint Connan-Coatmallouen was set up in early July 1944. Formed of several hundred men, it took part in the fighting of 27 July 1944 against the occupying troops. It went on to participate in the liberation of Guingamp and the surrounding area. Some members of the maquis went off to fight on the Lorient front until spring 1945, while others marched east to Berlin.

The museum gives visitors an insight into the history of the Second World War and the Resistance in the Côtes-d’Armor, by means of five exhibition spaces, each identified by a different floor colour. To round off the visit, Guy Delattre’s film Les patriotes de Coatmallouen is shown continuously in the projection room. The occupation, the Resistance movement, the maquis and their allies, the maquis of Plésidy-Saint Connan, liberation: all these themes are covered by a lively exhibition that allows considerable space for audiovisual displays and first-hand accounts.

Inaugurated on 5 August 1945 by minister René Pleven, in memory of the maquis, the Étang-Neuf stela remembers the fighting which pitted the maquisards against German troops in Coatmallouen on 27 July 1944. It bears the names of the 13 patriots killed in the fighting, as well as those of their comrades who died during the liberation of Guingamp and on the Lorient front.

The centre holds the disability-friendly label Tourisme et Handicap, for mental disability and motor impairment. The entire Étang-Neuf site is accessible to people with reduced mobility. Disabled people pay a concessionary rate for access to the museum, and their carers get in free.

Gift and book shop specialising in the Second World War.

Food/drink and accommodation are available on site at the Auberge de l’Étang-Neuf, adjacent to the Musée de la Résistance en Argoat.

Special offer for groups of eight people or more: guided tour of the museum + lunch at the restaurant for € 20 per person. Booking required.

School parties welcome throughout the year: guided tours with questionnaire, workshops and teaching materials available, meetings with veterans. Learning programme produced in conjunction with a representative of the national education service.

Sources : ©Musée de la Résistance en Argoat

Situated at the foot of the Croix de Lorraine in Colombey-les-deux-Eglises, the Charles de Gaulle memorial completes a walk of remembrance consisting of the family residence, La Boisserie and the de Gaulle family tomb, a place for contemplation, steeped in austerity.

La Boisserie. Source : Charles de Gaulle memorial

The village of Colombey-les-deux-Eglises is famous for having been chosen by General de Gaulle as the site of his family home, La Boisserie, on 9th June 1934. The main place of contemplation and writing of the man who made the call of 18th June, La Boisserie immerses the visitor in its family atmosphere, stamped with simplicity. Open to the public, visitors can tour the dining room and lounge, admire the view from the office and immerse themselves in the private life of Charles de Gaulle and his family.

Office of Charles de Gaulle in la Boisserie. Source : photo Philippe Lemoine

Charles de Gaulle memorial, life-size history

However, the one thing was lacking to help visitors understand the man; the Memorial fulfils this role.

Guided tour of the permanent exhibition

The memorial - permanent exhibition. Source : photo Philippe Lemoine

The Educational Department

Kits

Educational kits are provided to teachers. These tools assist students through the exhibition. They also allow them to familiarise themselves with and to summarise the content of the exhibitions. In relation with the official history-geography and civic instruction curricula of the National Education department, they are adjusted to the students' level: primary, secondary, college or sixth form and vocational college.

Educational walks

The walks are led by a Memorial teacher, who can provided a general or more detailed approach of the exhibitions.

Educational workshops

The Memorial also offers:

Practical information

Mémorial Charles de Gaulle
52330 Colombey-les-deux-églises

Educational Centre Team

Céline Anché

Courriel : celine.anche@memorial-charlesdegaulle.fr