Keystone-SDA
The State of Valais presented, on Tuesday, its official apologies to the Valais victims of coercive measures for assistance and extra-family placements that occurred before 1981. A memorial was inaugurated on this occasion.
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January 14, 2025 – 5:12 p.m.
(Keystone-ATS) “On behalf of the Council of State of the canton of Valais, I wish, with emotion and seriousness, to send an official apology to all the Valais victims of these abusive and unworthy measures,” declared during a press conference , the State Councilor in charge of health, social affairs and culture, Mathias Reynard. “We recognize your pain and the responsibilities of institutions, authorities and society, which have allowed such injustices to occur. »
Valais is not the first Swiss canton to take this approach. Friborg and Vaud have done this in the past. “These are ramparts against oblivion,” says Mathias Reynard. “They help to recognize and maintain the memory of the injustice and suffering suffered by all the victims. Our memorial will not erase the hurt, but it is a step toward recognition and forgiveness. »
Some 750 cases recorded
The initiative of the State of Valais intends to recall a dark episode in Swiss history and to bear witness to current and future generations. Between 1930 and 1981, around 39,000 people in Switzerland were victims of coercive measures. For the entire 20th century, it is estimated that between 50,000 and 60,000 people were subject to such administrative internment measures, including at least 750 people in Valais. We only talk about officially recorded cases.
For several decades, these measures concerned young women condemned to have an abortion, to undergo sterilization or to give their children up for adoption. Children and adolescents have also been victims of mistreatment in foster families or automatically placed in institutions. Finally, people were interned without a court decision, for their lifestyle on the margins of society.
Between heaven and hell
To commemorate the event, a memorial was inaugurated Tuesday afternoon in Sion. It is the work of the Upper Valais artist Raphaël Stucky. The native of Ernen designed a work on the ground, entitled “Paradise and Hell”.
Inspired by the game of hopscotch, the work is made up of ten slabs made of stones embedded in the ground and engraved with the numbers 0 to 9, in a font reminiscent of the type of writing used in victims’ files. However, the installation distances itself from hopscotch, inviting the public to rethink the game and invent new rules.
A call to remembrance
An explanatory plaque, attached to the adjoining wall, informs the public, in German and French, on the extent of the measures taken in Valais until 1981.
“This memorial is a testimony of recognition and a call to remembrance. A work that transcends its artistic dimension to become a place of reflection and contemplation,” concluded Mathias Reynard.
