Plunge into history : Terminale students involved in the European "Convoi 77" project
Since January 2024, 13 Terminale students have been taking part in the European Convoi77 project, a memorial and educational initiative, aimed at tracing the destinies of each of the 1,306 men, women and children on the last convoy to leave Drancy on 31 July 1944 for Auschwitz. This project, which has received the support of the Shoah Memorial, contributes to the transmission of the memory of the Shoah.
Thanks to the work of Serge Klarsfeld, the Shoah Memorial and the Association of Families and Friends of Deportees from Convoy 77, a great deal of information has been found for 400 deportees. But for the others, only a few details exist. The students therefore needed to undertake research to retrace the lives of those whose fate could be forgotten.
Using archives and their own research, the students and their teacher, Madame Berthod, explored the story of 3 German deportees. They took refuge in France and finsihed by being a part of this convoy just for being Jewish. This project allows students to appreciate the sheer scale of the genocide.
At the end, the students were congratulated by the “Convoi 77” project association for the fantastic work they had done.
Testimonials from students on the project:
The “Convoi 77” project has given me a better understanding of the work of a historian, its challenges and difficulties. Gathering information about a person to reconstruct a biography isn’t always easy, and it can be frustrating when you feel like you’re not making any progress with your research, but it’s fascinating work and it made me realise how important the work of memory is. Compiling archives and information to give meaning to a person’s fate helps us not to forget and gives back an identity and a life to people whom the Nazis tried to dehumanise. Taking part in this project has enabled me to see the victims of the Shoah in a whole new light, not just as victims, but as complex people with diverse lives and backgrounds.
Mona Ricoux
The “Convoi77” project offers me a dive into history, connecting me to real human stories with which I feel an emotional closeness and a responsibility for transmitting their memory. Every time we receive new information, I feel excited and eager to continue and complete our research, and to discover other aspects of the lives of the deportees.
Victoria Le Van
I decided to take part in this project firstly because I’m very interested in world history. My group and I had the chance to do some research on a person who was unfortunately deported on Convoi 77. We contacted several people and associations to gather information, which was really difficult but worthwhile at the same time.
I really enjoyed this project, which again reminded us of the horror of the Second World War.
Umut Altun
For me, this project gives me a concrete idea of the life of an Auschwitz deportee and the different “stages” he had to go through. In addition, we find out a lot about the difficulties of life in the camp, although the project allows us to imagine a life as a whole, and not just the worst that happened. Thanks to an efficient group, I also find it very interesting to be able to obtain documents, decipher them and understand their real meaning. There is a certain satisfaction too when the pieces of the jigsaw fit together, so that we know more or less exactly what happened.
Margaux Brun
This year I decided to get involved in the “Convoi77” project following my class trip to Poland as part of the history curriculum. We went to the Auschwitz and Birkenau camps. We constantly talked about the figures and the Jewish deportees as a group, but there wasn’t this intimate, personal dimension. Convoi77 gives a new identity to some of the deportees of the last convoy from Drancy to Auschwitz in 1944. As a group, we carried out meticulous research to rewrite the life of a deportee. With three other secondary school students, we try to contact survivors or memorials around the world to retrace the life of a deportee. For me, it was essential to take part in this project in order to perpetuate the memory for future generations. Everyone expresses their emotions in their own way. Some people cry, while others are not affected immediately or do not feel anything at all. In my case, I needed a little time to realise that I was taking part in a project that has an impact and that I find useful. I considered it essential to give up my time to give a face and meaning to people who have lived through the unimaginable. After seeing with my own eyes the conditions in which they lived and what was inflicted on them, I was keen to take part in the project. What’s more, as a student at a French lycée in Germany, I find this project particularly important in terms of Franco-German friendship.
Maud Roche
I am currently working on the “Convoi 77” project, which aims to reconstruct the biographies of the deportees on the last French convoy to leave Drancy for Auschwitz-Birkenau. Using archive resources, major memorial bodies such as Yad Vashem and the Shoah Memorial, as well as works by private individuals, we are helping to perpetuate a forgotten memory: that of these 1,306 innocent deportees.
I believe that it is necessary to remember, to understand the past to better understand the future. In this era of historical denialism and trivialisation, we are marking a break with the past. The will not to forget, the will to bear witness, the will to understand: these are the three axes of thought within this project. These are disturbing truths, not pleasant to discover or to delve into, but they are genuine truths. Not just some far-off subject of a few Jews deported here and there, no. This project offers us access to the lives of people who really experienced the Shoah, an extermination that doesn’t seem so far away after all, with the full cooperation of France.
The “Convoi 77” project represents a physical reference point of remembrance. When all the survivors have disappeared, swept away by age, we will not be able to take the easy way out and forget. Because this project and all those involved in it will never stop bearing witness, freeing the word and lifting the veil of distorted modesty that fully obstructs the memory of this industrial genocide that is the Shoah.
Ambroise Collette
I decided to join the “Convoi 77” project as I find the subject of the persecution of Jews during the Second World War of great interest, and even more so since we went to Auschwitz, which helped me understand a number of things I hadn’t previously realised. I attach huge importance to memory work, which is essential as a mark of respect for the victims of these events and to ensure that we never forget what happened. I particularly welcomed the idea of putting myself in the shoes of a “detective” to improve my ability to research and organise information.
Clément Henry-Roquain
The “Convoi 77” project gave me a better insight into the tragic history of the deportees during the Second World War. Particularly their individual fates. This project has made me realise how important it is to give back to each of these people the identities they lost during the Second World War and to preserve the collective memory.
Aya Widadi
I wanted to take part in “Convoi 77” first of all to prepare myself for the trip to Auschwitz, so that I could find certain information in the camp. Nevertheless, continuing to work on this project after having visited the concentration camps and having understood a certain number of things is, in my opinion, even more interesting because I realise the importance of this project, that every name is important and deserves to have its history investigated. I was pleased to be able to contact people who were directly or indirectly involved in this project and who helped us a great deal.
In conclusion, I sincerely appreciated taking part in this project, which I feel is morally important and interesting.
Paul Carbonne
Taking part in “Convoi 77” was a way for me not to forget the victims of the past. This work on memory not only enabled me to learn more about history and the tragic event that was the Shoah, but also to improve my ability to analyse documents. This project, which is linked to my class’s trip to Poland in the footsteps of Jewish life, is a real work in progress that requires a great deal of preparation.
Max Nicol
