Jean Garcin History Museum : 1939-1945, The Call of Liberty

Willy Holt, a famous French production designer who won a César in 1988 for his work on Louis Malle's 'Au revoir les enfants', has set the scene with objects, documents, photographs and archives relating life during the Occupation and the war years.

His cinematographic methods bring this period of history to life with reconstructions of how people lived then. Wooden schooldesks face the blackboard ready for the day’s lesson in virtue. The radio crackles with the Resistance’s final messages. Ration cards remind us how difficult life was for the French under the Occupation.

We learn about the Resistance in Vaucluse through accounts and personal recollections – how it was organised, the networks, the combattants in exile. The spirit of Liberty gave rise to a clandestine press and injected fresh energy into Literature and the Arts.

As Willy Holt said in 1991, “We wanted to show how harsh life was in those times, not shying away from the horror and death. To show the extent to which fear and indifference enabled fascism to spread. But maybe we should also have emphasised a point that Simone Weil made following a debate on the film Holocaust. She pointed out that one of the elements that enabled people to survive was laughter – humour and a taste for life.”
Themed tours and workshops for groups all year round, by appointment.
Free for under 18's.

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