Timeline

September 19, 2018

Announcement of the creation of a Museum and Memorial

In his speech at the annual ceremony for victims of terrorism, French President Emmanuel Macron announced his intention to create Museum and Memorial for Societies Facing Terrorism.

March 2019

Henry Rousso, Chair of the Preliminary Project

Henry Rousso was designated by the prime minister to lead the preliminary project for this institution, under the aegis of the Délégation interministérielle à l’aide aux victimes [inter-ministerial delegation for victim support]. Henry Rousso is a historian and researcher at the CNRS. He is known both in France and abroad for his groundbreaking work on collective memory and the Second World War, as well as for his ideas on the relationships between history, justice, and memory. His membership on numerous boards for museums and memorials is a major asset for this initiative.

March 11, 2020

First national day for victims of terrorism

“Remembering. Relentless remembering, together. Mass assassinations, suicide attacks: terrorists kill blindly in an attempt to erase every trace of deprived existences. Our nation will resist any plans for forgetting and erasure. We will say the names and we will remember the faces. Sandrine’s young smile, which the explosion on the RER B has forever frozen; Imad’s searing gaze from under his red beret—a symbol of his honorable service to France; the cheeks of the young Myriam, who will never be 9 years old because an Islamic terrorist waited for her outside of school. We will retrace their lives and tell their unique stories. There is André, the son of deportees who had survived a first round of blind hate 30 years earlier, who died on Rue des Rosiers on a bright August day. There is Kamal, who came from Afghanistan to live in France, where he started a family, built a business as a mechanic, and where he was killed, in front of his wife and three children on the cobblestones of Strasbourg. We will never forget the sound of these voices, the laughter, their accents. We will remember their talents, their hopes, their dreams. And we will celebrate these lives through testimonies, ceremonies, and the national medal of recognition for victims of terrorism which we created for all of these victims. We will not forget. And from generation to generation, we will remember those who have fallen.” 

Extract from President Emmanuel Macron’s speech during the first ceremony for victims of terrorism in Paris on March 11, 2020.

February 1, 2021

Creation of a Public Interest Group

A public interest group was created to bring the Museum and Memorial of Terrorism to fruition. February 25th, an interview (in French only) by France Inter with Henry Rousso, historian and chair of the preliminary project for the Museum and Memorial of Terrorism, and François Molins, public prosecutor at the Paris Court of Cassation and Advisory Committee chair for the Museum and Memorial of Terrorism.

May 11, 2021

Location chosen

The Museum and Memorial of Terrorism will be located in Suresnes.

March 11, 2022

Scientific and Cultural Program

The Scientific and Cultural Program (PSC) defines and establishes the parameters of the Museum and Memorial of Terrorism. The program was submitted to the French president on the French National Day for Victims of Terrorism.

July2022

Designation of the Project manager (ministry for Culture)

September 2022

Educational Exhibition

This exhibition, which is titled Facing Terrorism: Exhibition by Middle and High School Students, features projects by middle and high school classes.

January 27, 2023

Renewal of the public interest group

By order of January 27, 2023, the public interest group of the preliminary project for the Museum and Memorial of Terrorism was renewed for one year. The preliminary project is entering its second phase.

February 2024

Establishment of an Exhibition Committee to design the permanent exhibition layout.

May 2024

First international seminar

Organisation of the first international seminar on the theme ‘Memorial and museums dedicated to terrorism around the world: what is the present situation, what does the future hold, and how can we cooperate?’

October 2024

Educational exhibition

Third edition of the educational exhibition.

July 2025

Publication of a special edition of *l’Histoire* magazine

Produced in collaboration with the preparatory committee for the Museum and Memorial of Terrorism, this special edition offers a historiographical perspective on the issue.

September 2025

Second international seminar

Organisation of a second international seminar on the theme ‘Traces and testimonies: what historical narratives on terrorism?’.

November 2025

Outdoor exhibitions

To mark the tenth anniversary of the attacks of 13 November 2015, the preparatory team is staging two outdoor exhibitions, on the railings of Paris City Hall and on the platforms of metro line 11 at République station.

New location

The President of the Republic announces a new location for the Museum and Memorial to Terrorism: the Lourcine barracks in the 13th arrondissement.

December 2025

Renewal of the public interest group

Publication on 22 December 2025 in the Official Journal of the decree renewing the founding agreement of the public interest group.