Memory in Yverdon-les-Bains –
Long ignored, the departure of the war memorial is causing talk
The relocation to the cemetery of a stele that no one honored anymore shocked some residents.
Published today at 3:41 p.m.
Erected in 1919 near the entrance to the castle, the 14-ton erratic block was ignored by most Yverdon residents and was no longer honored by the City.
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- A memorial block from 1919 was moved to the Yverdon cemetery.
- Critics emerged, deeming this displacement disrespectful of collective memory.
- The monument was poorly maintained and subject to vandalism, officials said.
- A memorial ceremony took place at the cemetery with the French Souvenir.
After 105 years of existence, it had become the object of manifest indifference. The enormous erratic block serving as a war memorial was erected in 1919 near the entrance to the castle of Yverdon-les-Bains. It was to commemorate the thirteen soldiers from Yverdon and the nurse who died of the Spanish flu during the mobilization of the First World War, then for fourteen soldiers who disappeared during the Second World War.
His move to the cemeterycarried out at the end of October, aroused the incomprehension of certain Yverdon residents, considering the gesture as a disrespectful sidelining. Among them, the independent municipal councilor Daniel Cochand was moved by this during the session Thursday evening. With his sword drawn, he defended a resolution calling for the return of the monument “to the center of public life”, saying he was “shocked by an inappropriate and insulting measure for collective memory, which has generated poor communication”.
The Municipality's decision to move the stele to the cemetery was announced at the end of 2023 via an online “Newsletter” that went under the radar. It was a note on Facebook announcing the imminence of the work that caused anger. She justified them to “facilitate redevelopment around the castle, in particular the safety of soft mobility routes”. The place will soon see the construction site set up restoration of the guard tower.
Pissoir
“I have never seen anyone stop or bow nor the slightest flower in front of this monument,” defended Pierre Dessemontet, the socialist trustee. “I was regularly very shocked to see that he was used as a pissoir, and that bottles and cigarette butts were lying around at his feet,” even said Green councilor Sophie Mayor, who directed the Théâtre de l’Échandole just outside the city. side. “It makes sense to place this monument within the place of remembrance and remembrance par excellence that is the cemetery,” insisted the head of the Executive.
The custom of laying wreaths from 1is August had even been “abandoned” by the City in 2023 and 2024, when the festivities were relocated to the beach, without causing a stir. Dissatisfied with this neglect, Pierre Dessemontet intends to draw inspiration from “the admirable way in which French Souvenir brings its own monument to life in the cemetery”. A wreath-laying took place on November 11, followed by a “very high-class” joint ceremony thirteen days later.
A ceremony took place on November 24 at the Yverdon cemetery with the French Souvenir, accustomed to commemorating its own stele.
CITY OF YVERDON-LES-BAINS/CAROLE ALKABES
Never stingy with interventions, Ruben Ramchurn said he was surprised to see that a neutral country commemorated the date of the Armistice of 1918. Before, he had sunk into the absurd by wondering about a trip to the cemetery of the statue of Pestalozzi… and the Ukrainian flag flying over the City Hall. “I am not going to start a war for the return of the monument,” Daniel Cochand capitulated, preferring to withdraw his resolution.
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