Exhibition - Words and drawings of the children of the Maison d'Izieu

“The exhibition” Words and drawings of the children of the maison d’Izieu” brings together nearly 150 photographs, archival documents and children’s drawings made by the residents of this colony which served as their refuge during the Second World War.

Located in Ain (in south-eastern France), in an isolated and rural setting, the Anne-Marie villa in Izieu served as a refuge for 105 Jewish children aged 3 to 16, between May 1943 and April 6, 1944, the day of the roundup ordered by Klaus Barbie. The 44 residents and the 7 animators who were there were all deported and murdered, with the exception of a monitor who survived.

Originally from all over Europe, many of these children had previously experienced internment in the camps of the southern zone, then reception in various houses of the Children’s Relief Work. Aware of the danger that hovered over the scene since the occupation of the Italian zone by the Wehrmacht, the director of the colony, Sabine Zlatin, was absent during the roundup, preparing for the dispersal of the colony. On her return to Izieu, she preserved what she could of the abandoned drawings, letters or small words, so many testimonies of childish lives suddenly interrupted.

This exhibition is organized in partnership with the Bibliothèque nationale de France, custodian of Sabine Zlatin’s archives, and the Maison d’Izieu – memorial to exterminated Jewish children. In addition to archival documents and photographs, it presents many children’s drawings, in particular stories sketched on long strips of paper projected during evenings according to the principle of the magic lantern”. ©Maison d’Izieu