Fort du Hâ Prison was originally built in 1846 within remains of the 15th century Chateau du Hâ. The prison was taken over by German forces soon after the June 1940 occupation of France and used to incarcerate political prisoners.
On 23 October 1941, 20 political prisoners were taken from Fort du Hâ to Camp de Souge and shot in retaliation for the killing of a German military advisor in Bordeaux. The prison continued to operate after the war and was finally closed in 1967 and demolished in 1969 to make way for the French National School for the Judiciary. All that remains of the old prison now are the two towers and parts of the wall from the 15th century chateau. A memorial plaque on the site is dedicated the memory of the deported internees and resistants of Gironde who died in the Nazi concentration camps 1940–1945.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.