Multimedia archives
Ofpra's multimedia archives consist of a collection of filmed testimonies from former asylum officers at Ofpra, recorded since 2009, and photographs.
Filmed testimonies
This film collection project was doned by the Ofpra in cooperation with the Library of International and Contemporary Documentation (BDIC) of the University of Paris Ouest-La Défense (now La contemporaine) and the Val-de-Marne Departmental Archives. It aims to collect the memories of those who worked in the asylum process, whether or not they were refugees themselves.
Ofpra's Mission Histoire et Archives sought out the contacts and contributed to the development of the interview grid. The Val-de-Marne DA provided the equipment and the filming teams. The BDIC made the descriptions of the interviews in the Catalogue en ligne des archives et des manuscrits de l'enseignement supérieur (CALAMES).
Some interviews are directly available to the public, others are subject to the witness's agreement : the summary sheet can be downloaded here.
The interviews can be heard and seen on site, either at the Val-de-Marne Departmental Archives, or at the BDIC, or at the Ofpra, depending on the choices made by the witnesses. They are described in chrono-thematic files that can be consulted freely in the three institutions. Publication or quotation of the interview is subject to the prior agreement of the witness or the beneficiaries.
The first witness recorded is Jacqueline Massat. Born on 13 August 1921 in Vic Fezensac (Gers), she was part of resistance activities during the war and then, from 8 May 1945, volunteered to work for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration ( UNRRA ).
She was a social worker in several centres for displaced persons in Germany (Werl, Greven, Beckenfeld, Minden) before being appointed as an eligibility officer, conducting interviews with displaced persons in order to determine their eligibility for UNRRA technical assistance.
Transferred to the International Refugee Organisation when UNRRA ceased its activities, Jacqueline Massat joined Ofpra in November 1952, when IRO closed its offices.
She worked for eight months as a protection officer in the Spanish section, where work was similar to the duties of an IRO eligibility officer, but the process was done according to the definition of a refugee in Article 1A2 of the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
In May 1953, she was appointed deputy to the head of the newly created Legal Section. This section was in charge of producing observations before the Commission des recours des réfugiés (refugee appeals Commission), drafting memos on the procedure, intervening with the ministère de l’Intérieur (ministry of Home Affairs) in matters of expulsions and with the labour services for refugees' work permits.
Jacqueline Massat became head of the Legal section and remained in this position until her retirement on 31 August 1986. She passed away in 2013.
She was a knight of the Ordre national du Mérite, a knight of the Legion of Honour and a recipient of the Cross of the Resistance Volunteer Combatant.
Photographs
The Mission Histoire et Archives collects the photographic evidence available on Ofpra the offices that predated it.
These collections include a report by photographer Pierre-Philippe Marcou in 1992, as well as photographs of the premises and staff. It also includes photographs taken during missions "outside the office" by Ofpra workers.