“Don’t dress your children as soldiers, war is not a spectacle”, insists the president of the Landing Committee

If he salutes the work of the “reenactors” for the work of memory, Jean Quétier also calls on them to respect the rules.

The celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings are underway on Thursday June 6 with numerous reconstructions of scenes from the period. A good approach according to Jean Quétier, president of the Landing Committee which brings together dozens of municipalities which perpetuate this memory, provided that it is carried out “dignifiedly”he insists on franceinfo.

There are rules to respect, he points out: “We must comply with French legislation.”

“When we are reenactors, we are not military and, for example, we do not salute.”

Jean Quétier, president of the Landing Committee

at franceinfo

Jean Quétier also invites reenactors and collectors to subscribe to a “charter which was signed by the prefects of the departments of Calvados and Manche, by the regional president” and by himself to learn good practices in terms of historical reconstructions.

Another rule that Jean Quétier underlines is to leave children out of reenactments. He spoke directly to their parents Thursday morning on franceinfo: “Don’t dress your children as soldiers, don’t dress them up, especially when they are young. War is not a spectacle!” .For him, it is a red line not to be crossed: “We don’t play war.”

The president of the Landing Committee, which has existed since 1945, still wishes to salute the work carried out by all these enthusiasts. “Re-enactors have an important role to play in this transmission of memory and most of the time they do it very well.” Jean Quétier is delighted with the “Norman fervor which is back” for these commemorations, well “beyond what we could imagine”.