The Memorial de la Shoah, as a museum, cannot help but overwhelm in its solemnity. Entering the institution, one wonders if it is open; bars close off the front, leading the prospective patron to a small entry where they must pass through a metal detector, their possessions X-rayed by armed guards, a grim reminder that the persecution of Jews did not end with World War II. The sober atmosphere does not end after entry, of course, with a memorial with thousands of names of the departed inscribed and the weight of many of the institution’s exhibitions. The Holocaust is an inescapable context for viewing any exhibit within the Memorial and, as such, a certain level of gravity is a given.
The exhibition, which brings together original comic art, reproductions, films, and a substantial library of the publications themselves, delves into the rich and varied array of graphic responses to the...
