The Cherche-Midi prison was a French military prison located in Paris, France. 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 in Auburn, New York, and consisted of 200

solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...

cells. The prison population consisted of military personnel convicted of crimes by military tribunal, draft dodgers, deserters and occasional political prisoners. 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, the prison was evacuated and prisoners sent to an internment camp 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 liberation of Paris (french: Libération de Paris) was a military battle that took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the German garrison surrendered the French capital on 25 August 1944. Paris had been occupied by Nazi Germ ...

, the prison was used to hold German

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

. 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 and abandoned. The dilapidated prison was razed in 1966, and in 1968 the École des hautes études en sciences sociales opened on the site of the former prison. Famous detainees at the prison include

Adolphe Feder ''Adolphe'' is a classic French novel by Benjamin Constant, first published in 1816. It tells the story of an alienated young man, Adolphe, who falls in love with an older woman, Ellénore, the Polish mistress of the Comte de P***. Their illicit ...

, Kurt Gerstein, Henri Honoré d'Estienne d'Orves,

Alfred Dreyfus Alfred Dreyfus ( , also , ; 9 October 1859 – 12 July 1935) was a French artillery officer of Jewish ancestry whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most polarizing political dramas in modern French history. ...

and Agnès Humbert.

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