Derniers témoignages de déportés. Etude préalable et conservation-restauration de graffitis du camp de Drancy : application de l'imagerie Térahertz à  la lecture d'inscriptions recouvertes

Abstract : This dissertation concludes five years of training at the department of restoration of the National Heritage Institute. It constitutes a preliminary study for the conservation and restoration of the graffiti inscribed during the Second World War by the prisoners on the gypsum walls of the rooms of the transit camp in Drancy. Concealed at the time of the camp under coats of whitewash, then after the war, under coatings applied during the renovation, the graffiti have been preserved on the walls of the former camp that has been turned into apartments again. Hidden away, they were forgotten and remained unknown until their accidental discovery in 2009, during renovations, which led to the removal of 200 square meters of the partition walls of the former camp.
This dissertation deals firstly with the historical background of the site of the Cité de la Muette during the occupation of France by Nazi Germany, which led these men, women and children to go through this transit camp and mark the walls with these inscriptions. It then discusses the material history of the graffiti and their basis, draws the report of the conservation status of the removed whitewash and offers suitable interventions for conservation and restoration for the different types of covering. At the same time, a technical and scientific study is conducted to overcome the problem of graffiti covered by one or several layers of whitewash. This scientific study led to the implementation of non-invasive and non-destructive examination methods of the covered mural inscriptions through the testing of potential applications of terahertz imaging.