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Origin and history

The Quai des Déportés is located in the station of Compiègne, on the territory of Margny-lès-Compiègne (Oise, Hauts-de-France). Built in the 2nd quarter of the 20th century, this place symbolizes the deportation of nearly 50,000 French, mainly political prisoners and Jews, between 1942 and 1944. The convoys moved from the former barracks in Royallieu, transformed into an internment camp (Frontstalag 122), to destinations such as Dachau, Buchenwald or Auschwitz. The deportees crossed Compiègne on foot before being piled up in trains on this wharf.

A memorial was erected there in 1959 to perpetuate the memory of these victims. The wharf itself was classified as a historical monument by decree of 7 September 2001, recognizing its central role in the history of the Shoah and the Resistance in France. Compiègne was indeed the first centre for the deportation of French political prisoners, with approximately 52 convoys organized from this station.

The station of Compiègne, inaugurated in 1847 by the Northern Railway Company, became a strategic railway node. During World War II, it was requisitioned by the Germans to organize transfers to the camps. After the war, the Quai des Déportés remained a place of recollection, while the station retained its role in the TER Hauts-de-France network. Today, the site combines historical memory and active railway function.

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