a stele in memory of Simone Veil has been defaced

The prefect of Finistère Alain Espinasse denounced, Tuesday November 21, “with the greatest firmness” the deterioration of a stele paying tribute to Simone Veil in Lesneven.

Monday, “the municipal police of Lesneven noted the deterioration of the stele in memory of Simone Veil”in the center of this town of around 7,000 inhabitants, in the north of Finistère. “This stele was unsealed and broken into two pieces, probably during this weekend,” added the prefecture in a press release. “The gendarmerie forces are doing everything possible, under the authority of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, to find the perpetrators of these acts,” according to the same source.

Simone Veil (1927-2017), who was deported to Auschwitz, notably left her name in 1975 to the law legalizing voluntary termination of pregnancy (IVG). She was also President of the European Parliament (1979-1982). Also an academic, she was president of the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah (2001-2007). She entered the Pantheon in 2018.