It was a free space, whose doors remained wide open all year round. This is no longer the case. Since Monday and its reopening, the La Trinité-sur-Mer cemetery is now governed by schedules and will only be accessible to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. This municipal decree taken by the mayor of this town of 1,700 inhabitants nestled near Carnac (Morbihan) follows the arrival of a divisive personality among the “residents”.
Not that of Alain Barrière, author of the famous She was so pretty buried in La Trinité since 2019. But that of Jean-Marie Le Pen. “To avoid any potential damage to the grave” of the far-right leader, the municipality preferred to close its cemetery this weekend, not without causing some discontent, before reopening it normally this Monday.
“Neither General de Gaulle, nor a pop star or a football star”
Unaccustomed to seeing crowds, the tenants of the cemetery saw the entire Le Pen family arrive on Saturday, for the funeral of Jean-Marie Le Pen. Died at 96, the founder of the National Front was buried alongside his father and mother on Saturday. In the cemetery, nothing distinguishes the gray granite family vault of the Le Pen family, apart from an imposing Celtic cross which overlooks it. Devoid of any plants, the site was largely flowered on the occasion of Saturday’s ceremony, which was held in a small committee, made up of the family and friends of the far-right leader.
Now that calm has returned, a few questions arise. Will the place become a place of contemplation like the grave of Doors singer Jim Morrison at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris? Or like that of Oscar Wilde, whom fans came to kiss to the point of degrading his stone? “There may be people at the beginning to lay flowers on the grave, but I don’t think it will last over time,” Thierry, who lives near the cemetery, recently told us. “Trinité-sur-Mer is not going to become like Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises either,” he warns. Jean-Marie Le Pen is not General de Gaulle, nor a pop star or a football star. »
A career punctuated by scandalous remarks
What we can especially fear is that the tomb of Jean-Marie Le Pen will be the scene of regular damage, as is the case for that of Marshal Philippe Pétain, buried on the island of Yeu. A divisive character, the man who liked to be nicknamed “the menhir” leaves behind a long political career marked by racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic remarks. Several times condemned by the courts, notably for his comments on the genocide of the Jews during the Second World War, Jean-Marie Le Pen does not only have friends.
He is even hated by part of the population, who did not hesitate to “celebrate” his death on January 7. “There may be idiots who want to have fun defacing the grave,” Laurence, a native of La Trinité-sur-Mer, confided to us. But honestly I don’t think so. And if there is any damage, it will not be people from here because we are respectful,” she promises.
The Trinidad municipality hopes to be able to count on the good citizenship of locals and passing visitors. “No specific surveillance system for the cemetery has been put in place by the town hall,” its services specify. On the island of Yeu (Vendée), where Philippe Pétain rests, damage is regular. Every year, people come to vandalize the stele placed at the Port-Joinville municipal cemetery. By urinating on it (or worse depending on the desire), by committing damage or by tagging it, some want to recall the role of the former French head of state in the Jewish genocide or the repression of the Resistance, condemned to death but whose sentence was commuted to life in prison because of his age. One or two complaints are filed each year.
Accused of “high treason”
Will Jean-Marie Le Pen’s stele undergo the same treatment? Probably not. Because beyond the ideology of each of the two men, the difference is great. Firstly because Pétain was struck with “national indignity” at the time of his death, in July 1951, for having collaborated with Nazi Germany and led the Vichy regime. Accused of “high treason”, the former officer was in power, which never happened to Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Who was at Jean-Marie Le Pen’s funeral?
If we can criticize the racist ideology of the founder of the National Front, we cannot accuse him of any treason or crime. Let us remember that Marine Le Pen’s father has been convicted numerous times by the courts, notably for advocating war crimes and complicity, provoking hatred, discrimination and racial violence or even contesting crimes against humanity.
