The French government has decided to turn the Pithiviers railway station about 80 km south of Paris - idle since World War II - into a memorial site for thousands of Jews sent to Auschwitz. According to local media reports, the government is expected to set up educational exhibitions to explain to the public what happened at the site and to present a memorial plaque with many of the names of the Jews who were there and sent to Auschwitz.
The Pithiviers transit camp was built at the beginning of World War II in order to absorb German prisoners. In 1941, the Nazis occupied France, and immediately began operations to collect Jews to send them to camps in Germany and Poland. In 1943, the camp was emptied of Jews and political prisoners were housed there. After the war, a monument was erected in memory of the murdered Jews.