“Saint-Lô capital of pain”, evokes Emmanuel Macron when speaking of the 352 civilian victims of the Allied bombing of June 6, 1944. The President of the Republic, accompanied this Wednesday, June 5, 2024 by Brigitte Macron, begins his memorial journey in Normandy via the Saint-Lô stud farm (Manche) where A national ceremony was held in tribute to the civilian population in the war.
Also read: Follow our live stream. 80th D-Day. Emmanuel Macron: “Saint-Lô, capital of pain, capital of sacrifice”
“Capital of a Normandy of sacrifice”
In a speech lasting around 10 minutes, the President of the Republic first recalled what happened during the night of the bombing. “Evening falls on the city still in German time […] The bombs, the hot breath, the bodies lifted on the crates and the explosions that space out. And then the race in the devastated city. Fire everywhere,” described Emmanuel Macron slowly in a deep voice, in front of 3,500 spectators.
Confused and unforgettable memory of that night of June 6 to 7. the medieval heart of the city at the top of the rock is in flames. The courthouse, the prefecture, the town hall are nothing more than meters of smoking debris that the inhabitants contemplate. It’s a city like a pyre.
The President of the Republic also recalled all “the necessary targets” marked by Allied bombings: “Coutances, Flers, Lisieux, Caen, Vire, Condé-sur-Noireau, Pont-l’Évêque”. To explain the reality of these bombings, the head of state takes the photo of Max and Jean Robin, in front of the ruins in the city. A striking photo for the Saint-Lois and the Normans.
Saint-Lô, capital of ruins […]Saint-Lô capital of pain, capital of a Normandy of sacrifices
“The Nation must recognize civilian victims”
After highlighting the material damage in Saint-Lô, the Head of State highlighted a “uncomfortable memory”, towards the victims: “These bombing deaths were the victims of our fight for freedom and the homeland. »
The Nation must strongly recognize the civilian victims of Allied bombings, in Normandy and everywhere on our soil.
Emmanuel Macron then lists memorial acts such as established cemeteries or wreaths of flowers laid, as well as the reconstruction of the city and its new architecture. “Never in Saint-Lô has sorrow been mixed with hatred. »
Pain and greatness. Saint-Lô, for the Nation, is all of this and we do not forget.
A children’s choir, a text read, a release of pigeons…
Before this speech, a choir of 75 schoolchildren from Saint-Lô performed the song by Charles Trenet Sweet France. The actor Sébastien Pouderoux also read a text by the writer Jean de Saint-Jorre: “There are corpses everywhere in these ruins. I stay with the rescuers for a moment and suddenly, near a section of wall, I hear a faint cry: “Help! Help !” It seems to come from very far away. »
Mayor Emmanuelle Lejeune also recalled that the inhabitants of her commune are “the heirs of a great history”.
Paying homage to this humanity of the ruins is responding to the legitimate and strong expectations of all these descendants of civilian victims and all these survivors who grew up in Saint-Lô as elsewhere.
At the end of the President of the Republic’s speech and before a crowd, a release of 300 pigeons was carried out. The Marseillaise was then sung by the 75 schoolchildren.
