On 23 February 2008, the Compiègne Internment and Deportation Memorial was inaugurated on the site of the former Royallieu camp in Compiègne. Since then, 90,000 visitors have crossed the threshold of this place of history and remembrance.

The Royallieu barracks were built in 1913 and comprise 25 buildings covering an area of 16 hectares. From 1941 to 1944, it was transformed by the German army into one of the main transit camps in France. Nearly 45,000 people were transported there: political internees, resistance fighters, many of them Communists, Russian or American civilians and Jews. Deported, subjected to forced labour and ill-treatment, almost half died during transport or in the camps.

Three buildings have been preserved from the former camp, and are themselves on display. All the materials, colours and decorations that have been used since the camp was built in 1913 have been revealed through ingenious processes. To showcase the site, a frieze traces its history during the Second World War. It is accompanied by screens, video projectors and loudspeakers. Original documents and eye-witness accounts complement each other to enhance understanding.