Les Déracinés

The show *Les Déracinés* poignantly and compassionately recounts the story of these men and women, who came from Poland and Italy, leaving their homelands to rebuild their lives and contribute, through their work and courage, to France’s industrial and social history.

After the First World War, Poland regained its independence, but poverty drove many Poles to leave. An agreement signed with France allowed them to come and help rebuild the country: thousands of workers went down into the mines, worked hard, raised their children and gradually integrated, whilst holding on to their faith and traditions.

The Second World War once again turned their lives upside down. Fear, the bombings, the Resistance, and then liberation marked the lives of these courageous families. The immigrants shared in the sorrows and hopes of the France they had helped to build.

Pasquale left his native Calabria, with a heavy heart and empty pockets, to build walls of stone and hope elsewhere. Like him, poverty drives people to leave.
Giacomo leaves his village of Avigliano, leaving Maria and Egidio behind.
In Montceau-les-Mines, their paths cross: some descend into the depths of the mine, others build houses beneath the grey sky. They all share the same weariness, the same stubborn hope, and, in the silence of the evenings, the same homeland that continues to live on within them.

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