Prepared by an independent scientific committee, the symposium was chaired by René Rémond, president of the Fondation nationale des sciences politiques. It brought together renowned researchers such as Laurent Douzou, Serge Klarsfeld, Michel Margairaz, Eugène Riedweg, Henry Rousso and Serge Wolikow, as well as Philippe Bélaval, then director of the Archives de France. A review of available sources was prepared by curators from the Archives nationales. Witnesses from this period, company executives and railway workers took part in the discussions.
This symposium was one of the first in France devoted to the history of a major public company during the war, and it is of interest for the history of businesses and administrations as well as for social history and the history of the Second World War. It reviewed the available archives, addressed central issues such as the company’s strategy, the demands of the wartime economy and the deportation of the Jews of France. It examined the situation of railway workers during the war and the Occupation, and the memory of railway Resistance.