Img. ID: 397984

The dedication of the 97th division (section) of Père Lachaise Cemetery to the memory of deportees began in June 1946. The Amical d’Auschwitz arranged to have an urn of ashes brought back from the camp to Père Lechaise. The monument was erected three years later, designed by Françoise Solomon, who as a student at the National School of Fine Arts, joined the Resistance. She was arrested and deported to Auschwitz and Ravensbrück. Her memorial was unusual, though at that the time their few models to follow. Salmon carved a large rectangular block of volcanic stone from which a wraithlike figure with an oversized head appears to emerge.

The monument began a process of erecting memorials to deportees and then to other groups of victims that continues today. These monuments have been erected by camp survivors, political organizations, and other associations.