I was wondering somewhat aimlessly along the Seine, near the Eiffel Tour in Paris, when I came across a monument.

It was near the end of a long, narrow walkway surrounded by yellowed grass. There were a couple of dogs, a bench and a man doing stretch exercises. The monument consisted of a small collection of bronze figures of forlorn mothers with children on a stone pedestal with this explanation: the French Republic erected this in homage to the victims of persecutions by racists and antisemites, the crimes against humanity committed by the government of France between 1940 and 1944. “N’oublierons jamais” (We Shall Never Forget).