Witness the live restoration of a flagship object of the museum: the printing press of the Lion brothers, made by the conservators-restorers of the workshop «A l'orée du Bois».
This printing press has a very special history: it was located in the workshop of Henri Lion, located at 23 rue Croix-Baragnon in Toulouse. During the war, Henri and his brother Raoul put their professional activity at the service of the Resistance. On this press were printed false papers, leaflets and clandestine newspapers, decisive impressions for the Resistance in all its actions: communication, rescue, intelligence, etc.
This clandestine work requiring equipment, time and caution is the result of a daily commitment on the part of both printers and their employees, who take enormous risks. Unfortunately, on February 4, 1944, a large operation led by the Gestapo, with the help of two collaborators infiltrated in the printing press of Henri, led to the arrest of all those present in the two workshops, and resistance fighters who came to pick up their orders for the next two days. Henri and Raoul Lion were imprisoned in the Saint-Michel prison, then deported to Compiègne, and finally to Mauthausen in March 1944. The two brothers were tragically murdered in September of the same year.