Wooppy. The 21st History Book Fair will pay tribute to the Liberators

What other theme could the unmissable Woippy History Book Fair have chosen this year? For its 21st edition, it will return, Saturday November 16 and Sunday November 17, to “The Liberators”, those who liberated Metz and Woippy eighty years ago.

More than 32 associations present

As part of the commemorations of the Liberation, a ceremony will be organized in front of the stele, located at the La Maxe bar at 9 a.m. on Saturday. At the end, a convoy made up of around ten vintage military vehicles will parade through Woippy and set up on Place Debs, in front of the Saint-Exupéry room.

Inside, the program will be vast. More than 32 associations, from the Woippy History Society to the National Academy of Metz, and many authors will be present to sign their works.

Exhibitions

Several exhibitions will be held around the theme of the 80 years of the liberation of Woippy and Metz. One of them, proposed by the Third Army association, will present organization charts of the divisions and the progress of the combats. Two exhibitions proposed by the Thanks Gis association, entitled Women in war et Advertising during the war as well as a diorama, will be visible.

For the first time, visitors will discover a reproduction of a combat scene with the damaged Saint-Etienne church as well as Fort Gambetta and the German gate… only reconstructed with Lego® pieces. All with sound, light and smoke!

The Métropole de Metz will lend its exhibition entitled A treasure trove of heritage in the form of tabular-canvas stands.

Two conferences

Every day, at 3 p.m., there will be a conference. On Saturday, Frédérique Neau Dufour, patron of the Salon, strategic project manager for the memory policy of the Grand Est Region, will discuss memory issues. Sunday, Jean-Luc Baudinet, president of the local history society Lorry-lès-Metz over time, will tell of the freedom regained.

The Woippy Historical Society will offer its special issue of Chronicles of Graoully (n°34) devoted largely to the Liberation of 1944. In the 89 pages of the magazine, readers will discover articles on the liberation of Woippy in November 1944, the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Woippy, the combat of 3/377 RI US at Fort Gambetta on November 16, 1944, the testimony of a young Luftwaffenhelfer, the Thil camp, the diary of a bloody week in Moselle…