Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation de l’Isère

The Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation de l’Isère (Isère Museum of Resistance and Deportation) in Grenoble presents the history of resistance and deportation in Grenoble and the surrounding Isère départment during the Second World War. Following an introductory exhibition on the general origins of the Second World War and the broad course of the conflict across France, the museum presents this history through a series of permanent exhibitions grouped into five key themes: ‘Beginnings of Resistance’, ‘The Maquis’, ‘The Jewish Experience in Grenoble and Isère Between 1939 and 1945’, ‘Resistance, Repression, and Deportation’, and ‘Liberation’.

This thematic history is presented through a varied collection of more that 8000 individual objects relating to resistance and deportation in the region. These include all manner of objects from daily civilian life, weapons, military equipment, and uniforms, artifacts of resistance including resistance flags and counterfeit documents stamps, and artifacts of deportation including internees’ personal belongings. Written and printed records include posters, drawings, photographs, letters, books, and journalism and printed material from German and Vichy authorities as well as resistance sources. Audio and visual components include recorded interviews and documentary film footage. The themed permanent exhibitions which display these materials are joined by regular temporary exhibitions, generally highlighting a specific facet of local resistance or deportation.       

The museum was initially conceived in 1963. Following a special exhibition on wartime resistance in the Dauphiné region to commemorate the nineteenth anniversary of the Liberation of Grenoble, interest in the creation of a permanent museum grew; this effort was supported by former resistance members’ and former internees’ and deportees’ associations. On April 23, 1966, Journée Nationale du Souvenir des Victimes et des Héros de la Déportation (National Day in Memory of the Victims and Heros of Deportation), the Musée de la Résistance Dauphinoise (Museum of Dauphinoise Resistance) was inaugurated in nearby premises; it operated for twenty years, eventually outgrowing its original building. Seeking a larger space, the department of Isère recognized the museum as a departmental institution and transferred the collections to their new location; the current museum was inaugurated on July 1, 1994.