Heritage Days 2024: visit to the Bois-Colombes air-raid shelter (92)

Every year, we come away from the Journées du Patrimoine with a wealth of anecdotes and a better understanding of our region's history. On September 21 and 22, 2024, we'll be taking advantage of the weekend to explore the various museums, institutions and unusual places in the capital and neighboring départements, during guided tours and events that are often free of charge. The Hauts-de-Seine region is particularly rich in exceptional places to discover.

As the capital and its surrounding area were the scene of the Second World War, many relics are still accessible to the general public, particularly during the Journées du Patrimoine (Heritage Days). In Bois-Colombes, there's a former air-raid shelter reserved for civilians during the bombardments. A passive defense shelter in 1940, 97m long and located under the Place de la République, it could hold 388 adults.

These shelter trenches are designed to accommodate civilians for a few tens of minutes, not over the long term, which is why there are only fold-down concrete benches. There are no kitchens, food stores or bedrooms, just four small toilets. Between 1939 and 1944, the inhabitants experienced 421 alerts and three bombings on Bois-Colombes businesses, resulting in a total of almost 80 deaths.

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The 2024 Heritage Days program

• Visit to the Bois-Colombes air-raid shelter
  September 21 and 22
  

  In the late 1930s, as war approached, the town of Bois-Colombes set up passive defense measures to protect the population against possible bombing. A shelter was dug under the Place de la République around 1938. It was 97 meters long, had 3 stairways and could accommodate 388 adults or 485 children.
  This is a precious testimony to life during the Second World War and the bombing raids that hit the town. Between 1939 and 1944, Bois-Colombes experienced over 400 air raids, and was bombed 3 times in September and December 1943.
  The guided tour of the shelter (duration: 45 min) will be enhanced by a reading of excerpts from testimonies of the period.