The Cherche-Midi prison was a French military

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

located in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It housed military prisoners between 1851 and 1947. Construction on the prison began in 1847, when the former convent of the Daughters of the Good Shepherd was demolished on Rue du Cherche-Midi in Paris. The prison was modeled after the

Auburn prison Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, United States. It was built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility. History Constructed in 1816 as Auburn Pri ...

Auburn, New York Auburn is a city in Cayuga County, New York, United States. Located at the north end of Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in Central New York, the city had a population of 26,866 at the 2020 census. It is the largest city of Cayuga County, th ...

, and consisted of 200 solitary confinement cells. The prison population consisted of military personnel convicted of crimes by military tribunal,

draft dodger Draft evasion is any successful attempt to elude a government-imposed obligation to serve in the military forces of one's nation. Sometimes draft evasion involves refusing to comply with the military draft laws of one's nation. Illegal draft ev ...

s, deserters and occasional

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

s. Prisoners were not permitted to talk to each other during the day and were kept isolated in their cells at night. On June 12, 1940, immediately prior to the

German occupation of Paris Paris started mobilizing for war in September 1939, when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union attacked Poland, but the war seemed far away until May 10, 1940, when the Germans attacked France and quickly defeated the French army. The French governme ...

, the prison was evacuated and prisoners sent to an

internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

near Mauzac. From 1940 to 1944, the prison was used to house political prisoners by the German occupation army. After the liberation of Paris, the prison was used to hold German prisoners of war. In 1947, all prisoners were transferred to other facilities and the prison was used as a military courthouse until 1950. In 1950, the building was placed under the control of the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

and abandoned. The dilapidated prison was razed in 1966, and in 1968 the

École des hautes études en sciences sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The ...

opened on the site of the former prison. Famous detainees at the prison include Adolphe Feder,

Kurt Gerstein Kurt Gerstein (11 August 1905 – 25 July 1945) was a German SS officer and head of technical disinfection services of the ''Hygiene-Institut der Waffen-SS'' (Institute for Hygiene of the Waffen-SS). After witnessing mass murders in the Belzec a ...

Henri Honoré d'Estienne d'Orves Henri Honoré d'Estienne d'Orves (, 3 June 1901 – 29 August 1941) was a French Navy officer and one of the major heroes of the French Resistance, said to be the "first martyr of Free France". Early life He was born in Verrières-le-Buisson ...

, Alfred Dreyfus and

Agnès Humbert Agnès Humbert (12 October 1894 – 19 September 1963) was an art historian, ethnographer and a member of the French Resistance during World War II. She has become well known through the publication of a translation of the diary of her experience ...

References

Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme
{{coord, 48.8500, 2.3265, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title Defunct prisons in Paris 1851 establishments in France 1947 disestablishments in France Military prisons Buildings and structures demolished in 1966 Demolished buildings and structures in Paris