Seine-Saint-Denis: cinema to transmit to young people the memory of the Resistance and the Shoah

With the death of resistance fighter Madeleine Riffaud on November 6, one of the last heroines of the Resistance and the Liberation of Paris – which occurred 80 years ago – disappeared. Promised for deportation, she managed to escape from the train which was to take her there.

“There are almost no witnesses left,” notes Thierry Berkover, son of André Berkover. This former Auschwitz deportee who died in 2018 tirelessly testified to the youngest people about the horror of the Shoah.

This third edition, which begins this Tuesday, November 12, will offer around thirty films, accessible to a young audience, such as “The Most Precious of Goods” by Michel Hazanavicius (released in theaters on November 20) and the animated films “ Where is Anne Frank! » and “My Father’s Secrets”. This year, more than 1,200 students are registered for the sessions and three new cinemas have joined the network.

“It works very well, beyond our expectations,” says Sabine Pesier, president of the Friends of the National Resistance Museum in Seine-Saint-Denis. The format is very popular with the school community. » “We put the cultural tool at the service of the transmission of memory,” adds Thierry Berkover. Even if we received this story from our family and embraced it, we do not have the same legitimacy as our parents. So we offer exhibitions, conferences and this memorial part. »

Children of Auschwitz survivors among the speakers

Essential work as younger generations are less aware of the history of the Second World War. “I’m not surprised, it’s normal,” replies Sabine Pesier, herself a teacher. I am over 50 years old. In my family, it was a topic. For our students, we talk about great-grandparents, that’s a long way away. They know less but they are very receptive. »

Thierry Berkover agrees, breaking a cliché that the department suffers from: “Never, never, never have I heard inappropriate comments or even comments referring to what is happening in the Middle East. Contrary to what people may hear, it is not complicated to talk about the Shoah in Seine-Saint-Denis. »

Among the speakers to accept these exchanges are several children of Auschwitz survivors, members of the Memory of Jewish Immigrant Labor Resistance Association and several history teachers.

Resistance Film Festival, from Tuesday November 12 to Friday November 22. The screenings are also open to the general public. Complete program on https://festivallaresistanceaucinema.fr/.