Beuil has become, today, the 139th French commune to be elevated to the rank of “Just Towns and Villages of France”. The reason ? Between the summer of 1943 and the summer of 1944, its inhabitants hid a hundred Jews from the region, threatened with deportation by the Nazis. Dozens of years later, a tribute was paid to them.
The ceremony began at 11 a.m. sharp on Place Joseph Garnier. It was the commemorative plaque that was first unveiled with the famous “Nuits et Brouillard” by Jean Ferrat in the background.
– Julien raymond
Witnesses from the time then took the floor. Among them, Michelle Khan. She was 3 years old when her family was reported to the Gestapo in Nice. She will hide with a family from the city of Paris and will survive. “Today I am a mother and a grandmother. I say thank you to Beuil without whom I might not be in this place today”, she said.
– Julien raymond
Residents of the village were finally awarded a medal of the commune of Beuil and the department for their bravery. Witnesses of the period or descendants of families of the time, they succeeded one by one, to the enthusiastic applause of the agora.
– Julien raymond
Charles-Ange Ginésy says he is in favor of opening a museum
This is a question that we first asked Michel Rémy, the historian in charge of putting together Beuil’s membership file for the “Cities and Villages of the Just de France” network. After the commemorative plaque unveiled today, would it be a good idea to open a museum in Beuil to remember this period? “It would be very interesting to create a memory center, a place of transmission. In Beuil, there are many objects that can bear witness to this period”replied Michel Rémy.
“If this is the wish of the Mayor of Beuil, Beuillois and Beuilloises, then we would help them”.
The hypothesis was then submitted to the president of the departmental council, Charles-Ange Ginésy. He too valid : “If this is the wish of the Mayor of Beuil, Beuillois and Beuilloises, then we would help them”. To be continued.