Marseille 1900-1943. La mauvaise réputation

The first major roundup of French Jewish families in January 1943, the evacuation of 20,000 people from the northern neighbourhoods of the Old Port and their destruction. Nearly 1,500 people were deported and 14 hectares destroyed. Nearly two months after the Germans arrived in Marseille, in January 1943, following a series of attacks, Hitler himself ordered unprecedented repression. With the collaboration of the Vichy regime, the first major roundup of French Jewish families took place, along with the evacuation of 20,000 people from the northern neighbourhoods of the Old Port and their destruction. Nearly 1,500 people were deported and 14 hectares destroyed. This exhibition aims to help visitors understand how such a series of events could occur, without overlooking the ideological and strategic stakes of the Nazis. It explores the beginnings of the catastrophe, showing that although nothing was predetermined, the unthinkable was made possible by the sedimentation of representations attached to the history of Marseille and to an overwhelming imaginary: a very particular vision of Marseille, and more specifically of its old neighbourhoods, that had prevailed for decades—a bad reputation. Marseille, an ungovernable and ungovened city, a rebellious city, a den of bandits. It was a symbol of political and moral degeneracy. An infamous blemish to be erased from the landscape through a vast purge presented as urgent and salutary, in order to wipe from the map this ghetto of the poor and “metics”, a refuge for all those persecuted between the wars: Italian anti-fascists, Spanish republicans, German opponents, stateless Jews, and finally one of the centres of the Marseille Resistance during the Occupation. It is through exploring this complex interplay of reflections, unfolding over half a century, that visitors to the exhibition will be invited to approach the reality of these neighbourhoods and the imaginary they generated, and to understand the path towards the destruction of a symbolic neighbourhood. Texts and images, as well as 8 sound creations, convey the tone of the period. Two actors, Claude Leprêtre and Jean-Rémi Chaize, perform a selection of texts by novelists, reporters and editorial writers from the 1920s and 1930s, as well as a few dissident voices that escaped this stigmatising view of working-class neighbourhoods. They highlight the ambivalence of perceptions of Marseille, caught between exotic fascination and phobic repulsion, where hatred of foreigners and class contempt often went hand in hand. An original musical composition by Singhkeo Panya, who also performs it, accompanies the voices. The exhibition is divided into 4 themes: Cosmopolitanism The Colonial Port A Hint of Scandal In the Dock Since July 9, a second section of the exhibition “Marseille 1900–1943. The Bad Reputation”: PRÉMICES, an immersive and artistic audiovisual creation. PRÉMICES evokes the atmosphere of an era through the eyes of photographers. Two slide shows and a film essay reveal the working-class Marseille of the old neighbourhoods before the war, the turning point of the 1930s when views of foreigners and undesirables became more radical, and the post-war period, as immortalised by photographers such as Jacques Windenberger, Pierre Ciot and Kamar Idir, as well as through the vision of filmmakers. An ode to the Phocaean city and a lyrical, dreamlike tribute. A nomadic stroll through cosmopolitan Marseille. Audiovisual creation by Edouard Mills Affiff, senior lecturer in Film Studies (Université Paris-Cité/Aix-Marseille Université), documentary filmmaker and director. Free ► To ensure that you can enjoy the complete tour of all our exhibition rooms, we invite you to contact the Museum before your visit. ► To promote access to culture for everyone, the City of Marseille offers free admission to temporary exhibitions on their opening day and on the first Sunday of every month. ► All visits and activities related to the exhibition are available on the website musees.marseille.fr