Memorial to the Deportation of Jews from France
The Mémorial de la Déportation des Juifs de France is a memorial in Israel to the deportation of Jews from France during the National Socialist era.
Located in a pine forest near Beit Shemesh, near Moschaw Neve Michael in the Elah Valley, the site was built through the initiative of the Association des Fils et Filles des Déportés Juifs de France, chaired by Beate Klarsfeld and Serge Klarsfeld, and opened on 18 June 1981. The concept was developed by Simon Guerchon. The memorial measures 100 metres in length and 13 metres in height. On the memorial are all of the pages from the book of the same name, Mémorial de la Déportation des Juifs de France, published by Serge and Beate Klarsfeld in 1978, reproduced on fibreglass panels, and which contains the convoys of deportations first and last names and date and place of birth of the deportees. The pine forest around the memorial with 80,000 trees in memory of the 80,000 deported Jews from France was planted by the Jewish National Fund.
Two celebrations take place annually at the monument: On the Day of Remembrance of the Shoah, when the members of UNIFAN to hold a commemoration ceremony following a workshop in Yad Vashem. On 16 July, the members of the Aloumim Association pay tribute to their relatives at the Memorial.
