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Rivesaltes memorial site opens doors
Museum-monument to preserve memories of more than 50,000 people interned at Northern Catalan camp · Architect says monument conceived as "weight on conscience"
The monument-museum recalls that the camp was both a military area and a transit and internment camp that, over the period 1938-1977 hosted 50,000 to 80,000 people, depending on the sources. Republican refugees from the Spanish Civil War, deported Jews and Roma, German soldiers, FLN fighters and Algerian Harkis and their families were successively brought into the camp premises. At least hundreds of them died in Rivesaltes, while others were forced to Nazi extermination camps during the Second World War.
Before opening doors to the public on October 21, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls unveiled the museum-monument last week. According to Valls, the Rivesaltes memorial should be a tool in the fight against the resurgence of racism and hatred against those people deemed as different.
Memorial architect Rudy Ricciotti has conceived the work as a monolith made of reinforced concrete that symbolizes a "weight on conscience." The monument is 210 metres long, 20 wide and 4 high. Ricciotti recalls that the site was used for people deemed as "undesirable" by the French authorities.
The building itself has no windows in order to maintain privacy, but visitors can look up and see the sky, "a sign of hope." The monuments hosts art works that attempt to ease tensions. The site, according to Ricciotti, has a scientific, artistic and cultural vocation, creating spaces that invite to engage in relevant activities.