Sadi Carnot Shelter

At the bottom of these stairs, you’ll find the Sadi Carnot Shelter, a famous local landmark. It’s a bomb shelter, built during World War II, between 1942 and 1943. In 1940, Brest was taken over by the Germans. Their submarines docked in the harbor, making it impossible for the Allies to arrive by sea. They had no choice but to turn to air raids to liberate the city, leaving Brest scarred and devastated. To protect its citizens from such attacks, the city built several underground shelters in 1943, including this 300-meter-long tunnel. Then, on August 7 1944, the Americans began besieging the city, planning to bombard it until the Germans surrendered. The inhabitants were evacuated, except for the emergency services, the civil authorities, including the mayor, and some locals who refused to leave their city. They huddled up in the Sadi Carnot Shelter for over 25 days. The other half of the shelter was occupied by the Germans. The two were separated by a simple partition. You can surely imagine the deplorable conditions they lived in. On the night of September 9, 1944, disaster struck. A fire broke out when a German soldier made a mistake using the shelter’s power generator. It quickly spread to a large stockpile of ammunition and fuel cans stored nearby, causing a catastrophic explosion that left very few survivors. More than 370 French citizens lost their lives, including the mayor of Brest, and another 500 to 600 German soldiers. This unprecedented tragedy left a lasting mark on the city of Brest. Ten days later, Brest and Paris were liberated from the German army. Today, the tunnel is a memorial site that was opened to the public in 2009. Visitors can learn about the tragedy, the daily life of the people of Brest and the horrors of World War II. It’s a real call for peace in the wake of a tragedy that claimed hundreds of lives.