The City of Bergerac, as part of its City of Art and History label, is inaugurating a temporary memorial from October 10, 2026, to June 30, 2027. Located at the corner of Allée des Grands Duc and Boulevard des Poudriers, this installation of 15 photographs aims to bring a moment of history that remained in the shadows into the public space.
In 1940, nearly 4,000 Vietnamese workers were interned at the Bergerac National Powder Factory and forced to work without pay, contributing to the war effort. Torn from their country, these Indochinese Workers endured particularly difficult living and working conditions. After the powder factory, some were assigned to other tasks in the Dordogne region before being regrouped in the former Bikini camp in Creysse. They could only return to Vietnam starting in 1948.
This initiative, supported by the City of Bergerac, aims to make these life stories visible and to recall that the history of the territory was also built with people from elsewhere. The photographs come from the Bondier-Lecat collection, managed by the association Patrimoine Photographique en Bergeracois, and the project was carried out in partnership with journalist Pierre Daum and association president Michel Lecat.
This memorial is part of a long-term memory effort, following the exhibition dedicated to their portraits (October 2025-March 2026), the restoration of the stele dedicated at the Beauferrier cemetery, the installation of a memorial at the Bikini camp in Creysse, as well as several conferences and mediation actions.
An exceptional testimony remains on the ceilings of a building at the powder factory: tens of square meters of frescoes with traditional Vietnamese motifs (dragons, birds), painted by these men to recreate a familiar setting. These decorations are registered as Monuments historiques.
