The French Museum and Memorial of Terrorism: Memory, History, Justice

Abstract

Abstract:The project for a French Museum and Memorial of Terrorism (MMT) was launched in 2018-19. It is expected to open in 2027. Since the outset, it has maintained a particular connection with the world of French justice. This is the result of a strong concern on the part of public authorities with the victims in general, a matter in France of the ministry of justice. This concern found an expression in the recent big trials of the perpetrators and accomplices of Islamist terrorist attacks carried out in France since 2012. Finally, the museological choices that have been made in constituting the collection of the MMT has also benefitted from the unprecedented and privileged resources made available to it: testimonies, pieces of evidence, judicial documents, images of the hearings, etc. As a result, the project of the MMT offer a new example of the tight links between memory, history, and justice in French contemporary society.