“The memory of these ashes of Oradour must give birth to the lifeblood of our European project. » Impossible for Emmanuel Macron not to allude to Europe, in his speech delivered this Monday, June 10, 2024 in Oradour-sur-Glane. Even more so the day after an electoral setback.
The subject of the dissolution of the National Assembly, on the other hand, was quickly evacuated. Only a few words were spoken by the President of the Republic in response to the questioning of a man on the sidelines of a ceremony in Tulle: “We cannot allow any ambiguity to play out. I have confidence in the people. »
Then, time for remembrance on the occasion of the eighty years of the massacre in the village of Oradour-sur-Glane. On June 10, 1944, 643 people were killed by the German Waffen-SS division “Das Reich” which was gradually moving north to surprise the resistance, after the Landing on the beaches of Normandy.
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Apologies from the German president
For the first time, the President of the German Federal Republic was present in Haute-Vienne on June 10 for this commemoration. Frank-Walter Steinmeier apologized for the crimes committed by his country in front of an audience made up of victims’ relatives and young school children: “I would like to express on behalf of Germany my dismay and affection at these unspeakable crimes, this feeling of shame that inhabits me regarding the fact that these assassins have remained unpunished. If reconciliation does not take place in a place of suffering , it will never take place. »
But the high German dignitary also made his reference to the recent European elections. “I declare that we will never forget the disasters caused by nationalists and hatred. Let’s protect our united Europe. »
“Path of memory and reconciliation”
These various tributes were paid after a stroll by the two presidents between the ruins of Oradour-sur-Glane. Ruins which are struggling to be preserved and require work, as evidenced by the presence of tarpaulins and scaffolding.
During his last visits, Emmanuel Macron was accompanied by Robert Hébras, survivor of the massacre. He who, injured, had managed to escape from the barn where he had been locked up with around sixty hostages to be executed. But this memory smuggler died in February 2023. “The one we think about so much today. There is the path of memory and reconciliation, which Robert Hébras and several others have led, that of knowing and not forgetting. underlined the tenant of the Élysée.
Read also: PORTRAIT. Robert Hébras, last survivor of Oradour-sur-Glane, has left
Robert Hébras’ granddaughter, Agathe, prepared for a long time to take over and thus experienced a rather moving day: “It was the first commemoration without him and I really thought he would be there. It is up to us today to continue his work. » And if the witnesses gradually fade away, the stones must remain. In any case, this is the desire displayed for several years and which was materialized by the adoption, on December 14, by the Ministry of Culture, of a plan of 19 million euros for fifteen years of work. . The objective: to preserve in order to transmit. And to speed up the project, the Heritage Foundation launched a donation drive a year ago. Around 2 million euros have already been raised.
