On 30 May 2014, a « remembrance wagon » was unveiled outside Penne station, in Lot-et-Garonne, in the presence of representatives of local authorities, former deportees and their families. Provided by SNCF, this wagon commemorates the deportation, 70 years earlier, of nearly 1,200 Resistance members held at the Eysses prison, in Villeneuve-sur-Lot.
On 19 February 1944, the political prisoners of the prison rose up in an attempted mass escape. After the uprising failed, twelve Resistance members were executed. The other prisoners were kept in detention before being handed over to the German authorities by the Vichy government. On 30 May 1944, nearly 1,200 of them left Eysses prison to be transferred to the Dachau concentration camp in Germany. After a long train journey, they arrived at the camp on 2 July 1944.
The wagon, dating from 1909, thus serves as a physical reminder and recalls the conditions in which deportees were transported. Beside it, a monument bears the names of the deported Resistance members, paying tribute to each of them. A bust of singer and poet Jean Ferrat, author of the song Nuit et Brouillard (« Night and Fog »), has also been placed to the right of the monument, echoing the memory of the deportation.
This memorial site recalls the fate of the Eysses Resistance members and helps to pass on the history of their commitment, their deportation and their deaths.
