Cimetière parisien de Thiais

The cimetière parisien de Thiais is one of three Parisian cemeteries extra muros, and is located in the commune of Thiais, in the Val-de-Marne department, in the Île-de-France region. The cemetery was opened in October 1929 and is therefore the newest of the three Parisian cemeteries extra muros. The others being the cimetière parisien de Bagneux and the cimetière parisien de Pantin. It is now a true cosmopolitan cemetery, where many faiths are represented. Thiais is the second largest Parisian cemetery. Only Pantin is larger. There are about 6,000 trees. The cemetery is divided into 123 numbered divisions in which there are an estimated 150,000 graves. Because the cemetery is so large, people with a walking disability can be driven around. In divisions 48 through 55 there are Jardins de la Fraternité which are meant for burial of those in Paris who could not afford burial or who could not be identified. Because of this it has the reputation of being the "Cemetery of the poor and penniless". Ashes of the dead who donated their body to science are scattered in Division 102, where several stelae stand in their memory. Division 94 is reserved for stillbirths. There are military sections in divisions 1 and 17. There are also a number of memorials: Monument for the French resistance (1942) (division 7) The Ermenonville crash in 1974 (division 16) The Paris-Brazzaville crash in 1961 (division 22) Monument for the Policier auxiliaires, persons who have chosen to do their national service in the French national police force (division 25) Monument for French Indochina solidarity (division 36) Monuments for Génie de la Terre (Chinese protective deities) (division 36 and 44) Individual burials. Many of the graves have been cleared after the concession ran out.