80 years after the Liberation, there are around fifty museums of the Resistance in France, almost all created in the years 1960-1970 at the initiative of former resistance fighters or deported. New museums are still emerging, such as the Museum of the Resistance of Creuse – a project of the Departmental Council in connection with the Association of Friends of the Museum of Resistance and Deportation.
The museum was originally to open its doors on May 8, 2025 in a wing of the cultural and artistic center Jean Lurçat in Aubusson, but the locals suffered from serious water infiltrations and the plans had to be modified. The museum will finally settle in the premises of the departmental archives in Guéret, in which the reading room will be moved in order to release 150 m² for the museum. The opening is scheduled for heritage days in September 2025.
“Until the end of the year, we will be a little bit in the boxes” recognizes Gaël Chenard, director of archives and cultural affairs in the department at HERE. The media reports that a canopy will be removed in order to enlarge the space. The cost of the site was not specified.
The museography, designed by the Eugène agency, will focus on three fictitious characters that will allow visitors to learn more about the history of Creuse during the Second World War. Among these three characters: a teenager who undergoes the deprivation of war, a young Jewish refugee and a young man who joins the maquis and engages in resistance.
In the circular rooms devoted to these three characters, explanations adorn the walls, while sound environments and interactive activities are offered. “The story that we are racing is based on documents that are kept here, which makes it possible to present a large number of objects to the public”explained Gaël Chenard.
The Creuse Resistance Museum will probably not permanently remain in the premises of the Creuse Departmental Archives. If the Jean Lurçat cultural center is renovated, the museum could move there.
Very unequally distributed over the territory, the museums of the resistance share common values, such as the struggle for freedom and humanism, carried for a long time by the word and the direct involvement of the ancient resistant or deported. However, the gradual disappearance of the resistants leads to rethink the mediation space around the ” empty “ that they leave. Among the museums that reorganize and diversify their approaches, we can cite the Museum of Resistance and Deportation in Besançon, created in 1971.
