Maison d'Izieu, Memorial to exterminated Jewish children

In this house opened by Sabine and Miron Zlatin, more than a hundred Jewish children were taken in from the spring of 1943 to April 1944 in order to escape from anti-Semitic persecution. On the morning of 6 April 1944, the 44 children and the 7 educators who were there were rounded up and deported on the orders of K. Barbie, one of the heads of the Gestapo in Lyon. From then on, the Maison d'Izieu became one of the first places of memory dedicated to the Shoah.

The history of the children of the Colonie d'Izieu is known throughout the world following the Nuremberg trial in 1945 and the trial of K. Barbie in Lyon in 1987. The latter was the first trial for crimes against humanity in France, thanks to the action of the Klarsfeld couple and numerous witnesses. The day after the trial, Sabine Zlatin and the former sub-prefect of Belley, Pierre-Marcel Wiltzer, formed the "Musée-Mémorial des enfants d'Izieu" association. The President of the Republic, François Mitterrand, included the project of a museum dedicated to the children of Izieu in his programme of major works to make it "a place of memory, education and life".

Since the presidential decree of 1993, the Maison d'Izieu, along with the Vélodrome d'Hiver and the Gurs camp, has been one of the three sites of national remembrance of "the victims of racist and anti-Semitic persecution and crimes against humanity committed with the complicity of the Vichy government, known as the government of the French State (1940-1944)".

The memorial-museum was opened in 1994 by the President of the Republic François Mitterrand.

Its extension was inaugurated in 2015 by the President of the Republic François Hollande.

Classified as a historical monument, the Memorial-Museum is one of the most important places of memory to visit in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

When you arrive, a striking setting awaits you: the beauty of the place contrasting with the history it bears. At the end of the road, you will see the house with the blue shutters. As you walk through the site, you can stop at the 1993 national stele and the commemorative plaques on the house to pay your respects and try to understand.

The house

The house contains letters, drawings and photos that bear witness to daily life at the Colony from the spring of 1943 to the roundup on 6 April 1944. During your visit, you will go through the different rooms of the house: the classroom, the refectory, the dormitories...

The house can only be visited accompanied by a mediator and by reservation. Visits take place at regular times. Consult the website. (Duration: 50 min)

The museum

Near the house, the museum is fully integrated into the old barn. The three areas of the permanent exhibition and its many digital devices allow visitors to discover the historical context of the Second World War, the networks for the rescue of Jewish children, international criminal justice and the construction of memory today.

The building houses the bookshop, the documentation and research centre, educational rooms and a gallery of original documents from unpublished collections. An exhibition is scheduled every year from April to October. (Duration: 2 hours to visit the permanent exhibition)

In addition to the visit to the house and the museum, a cultural and scientific programme is offered throughout the year: temporary exhibitions, symposiums, conferences, seminars, concerts, meetings with authors, etc. Four commemorations per year invite people to gather: 27 January, 6 April, last Sunday in April and 16 July.

Today, the Maison d'Izieu is a place of welcome and vigilance which aims to deliver, through the memory of the children and educators of the Colonie d'Izieu, a universal message and to act against all forms of intolerance and racism.