Ground floor: the immersive room

This film tells the successive steps of an aerial bombing. The massive bombardments are one of the features of Second World War. They mainly targeted industrial cities and also served to demoralize the population or, as in Falaise, to break the German military resistance.

The number of deaths is very difficult to quantify. Many have died from their injuries, sometimes years later.

Situated on the ground floor of the Falaise memorial is a multi-sensory reconstruction gallery. This gallery was built on the exact same spot where archaeologists discovered remains of a house destroyed in the 1944 bombardments. The site of this exceptional discovery by archaeologists from INRAP, the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research, was where the museum design team had planned a special reconstruction as the highpoint of the exhibition. To help visitors identify with and imagine themselves part of this terrible period of bombardments, a glass floor was installed over the remains so that the scars are left on view. Objects dating from this time have also been carefully preserved and included in the display. This spectacular reconstruction with special sound and lighting effects recreates the dreadful moments when all hell broke out and Norman homes were shelled to the ground. Following on from this, visitors can watch a film that further depicts the “real-life” situation by portraying the life of a French family before, during and after the bombings.