Mémorial Nationale de la Prison de Montluc

The Mémorial Nationale de la Prison de Montluc (Montluc Prison National Memorial) in Lyon is located at the site of the former Montluc prison, best known for its use by German occupation authorities to intern prisoners and deportees from January 1943 to August 1944.

Constructed in 1921, Montluc Prison was employed by Vichy as a military prison; occupied by German authorities in 1943, it became a central site for internment of prisoners prior to deportation or execution. Notable internees included resistance leader Jean Moulin, historian Marc Bloch, and the children and staff of the Maison d’Izieu School; approximately 10 000 men, women and children, among them 8 000 Jews, were imprisoned at Montluc prior to execution or deportation.       

Following the war, Montluc continued to serve as a civil and military prison for various classes of prisoners; it closed fully in 2009. In 2010, the building was opened to visitors as a memorial to the memory of German occupation, resistance, and deportation. It is today one of ten memorials, the Haut Lieux de la Mémoire Nationale (Places of National Memory), operated by the state as memorials to significant conflicts and memory.