“A duty to remember”, a petition launched to rename Stalingrad Square to Ukraine Square in Bordeaux

See my news
Follow Bordeaux News

On Sunday, November 17, 2024, William-Alain Miailhe, from Bordeaux now based in Manila, launches a petition to rename the square Stalingrad in place of l’Ukraine.

In October 2023, he had already sent a letter to Bordeaux town hall to request a survey of residents to rename this square. Now, the retiree has taken matters into his own hands by speaking directly to the residents of the metropolis.

In the space of ten days, the petition has grown in size. She received more than 6 300 signatures.

“A duty to remember”

This makes more than 1,000 days that Russia invaded Ukraine. The third sad anniversary of this war is approaching and “every gesture of solidarity counts to support the Ukrainian people” relays the author of this petition.

William-Alain Mialhe visited Ukraine three years before the Russian invasion. The Bordeaux resident was going to campaign against “corruption” and for “ rapprochement of the country towards NATO”.

For the retiree, keeping the name of Place Stalingrad in 2024 “can be perceived as a discrepancy with the modern values of Bordeaux and the current international context”.

Laurent Fortinhonorary consul of Ukraine in New Aquitaine, is a signatory of this petition. ” It's a duty of memory and I fight every day so that we do not forget this war.”

He believes that this type of action can contribute to “raising citizen awareness” to remind us that “war is for portes of Europe”.

The honorary consul has already addressed the Ukrainian associations in the Gironde capital and wishes to reupload this petition to the ears of the town hall and the metropolis if this has not already been done.

In April 2022, the Bordeaux town hall had already carried out a symbolic action towards the Ukrainian people. The Human Rights square had temporarily been renamed “Ukraine Square”.

A counter-petition launched

If the petition succeeded in collecting a good number of signatures, it also caused astonishment among some. Indeed, on November 22, another petition was launched against the renaming from Stalingrad Square to Ukraine Square. In the space of a week, she collected nearly 2 500 signatures.

“We should not read history retrospectively and respect the fighters of the Battle of Stalingrad which played a major role in the defeat of Adolf Hitler”, indicates Georges Gastaud, professor of philosophy and initiator of this petition.

The Russian city had been the scene of a Soviet victory in February 1943, marking the end of Nazi hegemony.

Georges Gastaud is not fundamentally opposed to the creation of a place for Ukraine but not to detriment from Stalingrad Square. “A city like Bordeaux is large enough to have two distinct places.”

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.