Exhibition: 1939-45: memoirs of war

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the city of Sélestat, the Humanist Library joins forces with the services of the Ville d'art et d'histoire and the municipal archives to testify to the resilience and courage of an occupied territory, and the fragility of heritage in times of conflict.

An immersion into the heart of World War II

With the help of oral testimonies, set in resonance with the archives of the City and those of the Humanist Library, the exhibition retraces the important episodes of this troubled local history: from the uncertain expectation of the "funny war" the challenges posed by the protection of cultural property and the possibility of evacuations.
But it also refers to the control of the population by the Nazi administration or the tragedy of the incorporation of force, until the Liberation of the city, which occurred in a context of violent
fights.

Understanding a complex period

Beyond a simple restitution of local historical facts, this exhibition constitutes an approach to the transmission and understanding of a complex period, whose events echo contemporary political issues.
The chosen approach aims to shed light on history from different angles. It seeks, by this, a collective appropriation of this memory. Commemoration is then revealed as a tool for building and maintaining a shared memory.