If the septuagenarian is too young to have lived through the Second World War, all his memories are steeped in his family history. It’s been six years now since Georgette took over from her cousin Ulysse, nickname, as flag bearer for the ANACR, the association of veterans and friends of the Resistance in Dordogne. Once again this year, she will pay tribute to him during the ceremony on May 8 in Blis-et-Born.
Handle around her right shoulder, harness on her right hip, Georgette goes to get the flag which she keeps warm in her guest room. “There would be no question of damaging it! It’s beautiful fabric, the fringes are sewn with gold thread.” It’s hard to know how much it weighs, but one thing is certain “it is heavy!” says Périgourdine. But, the standard bearer perched on her little black and silver sneakers keeps her back straight as it should. “It is an honour for me”, she smiled. A self-confessed feminist, Georgette stands up in particular for her resistant women forgotten by History.“We can do things like men! Without us, there would no longer be a standard bearer in Blis-et-Born. Many resistance fighters remained in the shadow of their husbands.”
Grandmother Léontine, heroine of Georgette
This role is also a way of perpetuating family memory. In 39-45, her grandmother Léontine, so dear to her heart, had hidden Jews in the same house where Georgette lives today. Until the Gestapo showed up at their house one day. “They set fire to the house which burned to the ground at that time,” tells Georgette through a story she heard throughout her childhood. But fortunately, no one was inside that day. His ancestors therefore saved lives “but they never received the medal of the Righteous”, sighs Georgette. On the other hand, his cousin, Sylvain, alias Ulysses by his pseudonym, was able to be decorated as a standard bearer. “He was a resistance fighter for the Mercédes camp in the town of Bassillac…But he never talked about what he had done there,” relates the descendant. Emotion rises in his voice. “I have a pang in my heart.”
Ulysses is now deceased. From now on, so that no one ever forgets her, Georgette, every May 8, puts on her white gloves and his little beret. In the Dordogne, ceremonies are organized almost everywhere, particularly in Périgueux. Meet at 11:30 a.m. on the Esplanade du Souvenir, Allées de Tournir.
