French city of Lyon to get 'long overdue' Holocaust memorial

The City Council of Lyon in eastern France has voted on a budget to build a Holocaust memorial. Although several plaques exist for the victims of WWII, the city centre lacks its own distinct tribute to the deportation of Jews.

The Star of David seen on the dome of the synagogue (illustration) REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

Known as the "capital of the Resistance", Lyon has several columns or plaques honouring the memory of the victims of the Second World War and the deportation.

But there is no Holocaust memorial in the city centre.

This "oversight" will soon be filled since the city of Lyon voted on Thursday for the creation of a special budget for the project.

In 2019, the former mayor, Gérard Colomb, presented a project to build a Holocaust memorial, recalling that six million Jews across Europe were deported by the Nazi regime and its allies, including 6,200 people in the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region.

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The Holocaust memorial project needs funding of up to €400,000.

The council members voted a subsidy of €75,000 which will be added to the €150,000 already signed off by the Regional council.

Other private partners and donations will complete the budget.

#Lyon se souvient des victimes de l'Holocauste. Voté à l'unanimité en ce jour de #CMlyon, un Mémorial de la Shoah sera érigé place Carnot.
Le soutien de la Ville à l’édification du monument constitue l’expression d’une solidarité collective et républicaine. pic.twitter.com/VyXHLKD1qE

— Grégory Doucet (@Gregorydoucet) December 15, 2022

Design competition in 2023

A competition to find a design for the site will be launched in 2023 by the Shoah Memorial Association, which has been supporting the project since 2018.

A jury will select the project that best meets the artistic and memorial requirements.

The association says its looking for a "significant" and "challenging" work, "capable of retaining the eye of the passer-by".

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The memorial will be erected on Place Carnot in Lyon's 2nd arrondissement on the Presqu'île.

Place Carnot was chosen because it's a major public space devoted to the Republic, mayor of Lyon, Grégory Doucet explained.

Not far away, by the Perrache train station, there is a statue marking the great tragedies of the 20th century such departure of the soldiers in 1914-18 and deportations of 1939-45, making the site "particularly suitable for hosting this memorial," he said.

Despite having no major installation in Lyon, a Holocaust memorial listing the names of the deported residents of the region was already inaugurated in September 2022 in La Mouche Jewish cemetery in the city's 7th arrondissement.