Donating records

Perhaps you are an ex-serviceman or woman or were involved in or witnessed military operations? Perhaps you have documents relating to this period and are concerned that these memories could be lost to history?

You can contribute to enriching our remembrance of history by entrusting your account or records to the Defence Historical Service, which will look after the management and preservation of the record and make it known to historians.

Your name will not be forgotten: all private record collections held by the Defence Historical Service are linked with the name of the person who created the collection and the name of the donor.

A simple letter is all it takes to create a record collection: whether you only have a few scattered documents or have accumulated a significant body of records, the Defence Historical Service will give your memories their rightful place.

There are several different ways to contribute your documents: gift, bequest, payment in kind or deposit.

Gift

This can be done in person, simply by physically giving the records in question, or by means of a donation set out in a legal deed under the ordinary contracts form (article 931 of the Civil Code).

Bequest

This must appear in a will, in one of the three formats recognised by the Civil Code (articles 969 et sequ.), in other words:
- a holograph, or will wholly handwritten, dated and signed by the testator;
- a will drawn up by a solicitor or notary public;
- a secret will presented closed, stamped and sealed to a solicitor or notary public.

Payment in kind

This is a method whereby an individual can pay certain taxes in kind (inheritance tax, gift tax, wealth tax) by donating records of significant historical value to the State (law of 31 December 1968 and Decree of 10 November 1970).

Deposit

The depositor retains ownership and rights. At a later date, they may convert the deposit into a gift or take back their records.

Giving one's records to the Defence Historical Service is a way of becoming a permanent part of History.

To find out more

To find out more, please contact the Département de l'innovation technologique et des entrées par voie extraordinaire.

Telephone number

+33 (0)1 41 93 21 78

Postal address

Service historique de la défense
Département de l'innovation technologique et des entrées par voie extraordinaire
Château de Vincennes
Avenue de Paris
94306 Vincennes cedex
France

The contents of this page (images and text) are published by the Defence Historical Service (Service historique de la défense) under the terms of the Creative Commons Original Author Attribution licence 2.0 France.