Families and War, the exhibition at the Musée de la Grande Guerre

To mark the Centenary of the Armistice, the Musée de la Grande Guerre in Meaux is unveiling Families in the Trial of War, an exhibition on families during the First World War, on view from June 2 to December 2, 2018. How did children cope with separation from their fathers? How to deal with the stress of losing father or husband? How did soldiers communicate with their families during the long months of separation? Over 300 archives will present the intimacy of family life in 14-18. A deeply moving experience!

The Musée de la Grande Guerre de Meaux's exhibition Families in the face of War tackles one of the most moving aspects of 14-18: the separation of families during the War.

The painful separation, the stress linked to the news of the death of a father or husband in the rear, the months spent praying at the front to be reunited with wife and children, not to mention the return home after physical and mental injuries - all wars have a similar pattern.

And when the war was global, with 48.2 million men at the front (7.9 million of them in France alone), many family lives were turned upside down!

In three sequences, the exhibition Families put to the test by the War explains :

the painful separations during mobilization,
the upheaval of daily life, both at the front and in the rear,
the announcement of loss followed by painful mourning, or the return of soldiers to their homes and civilian life.

Suitable for children aged 10 and over, the exhibition features some 300 First World War collectors' items - correspondence, familiar objects, costumes, uniforms, graphics and sculptures - in an intimate scenography. It's a great way for young and old alike to learn about our history and support the Duty to Remember.

We discover that marriages were celebrated with a medal, that women were invited to "passionately snog" their husbands and fiancés during the 7-day leave, and we can read messages of love and fear for a husband, son or brother in combat.

This exhibition manages to show us daily life at the front and in the rear, and the emotional moments made possible by correspondence and furloughs, even if death is not far away.

Women in mourning clothes, letters returned to sender because the soldier has "disappeared", the War remains a traumatic event, and the Musée de la Grande Guerre presents it to us without offending or shocking!

Jean-Yves Le Naour, curator of the exhibition, tells us:

It's a wonderful exhibition to discover on the occasion of the Centenary of the Great War; thanks to its original thematic approach, hailed by the French Ministry of Culture, the exhibition has been awarded the "exhibition of national interest" label for 2018!

Discover the Musée de la Grande Guerre as told by Herodot'com :

Please note that it's been over 4 years since our last visit, so the place and experience may have changed.