three sequences to remember from the tribute paid to the Vercors maquis by Emmanuel Macron

The President of the Republic traveled to Vassieux-en-Vercors, in Drôme, the scene in July 1944 of the massacre of 73 villagers by the Wehrmacht.

This is the first time that a serving head of state takes part in a tribute ceremony in Vassieux-en-Vercors (Drôme). Emmanuel Macron honored, Tuesday April 16, the memory of the resistance fighters of this maquis, “incarnation of a France inseparable from the Republic”.

“On this set, freedom has always been at home”, greeted the President of the Republic during his speech at the Vassieux-en-Vercors necropolis. Lhe Vercors maquis is traditionally celebrated on July 21, the date of the final and particularly cruel assault by German troops in 1944 (840 resistance fighters and civilians killed, 570 houses destroyed). The choice of April 16 corresponds to the first attack of the French Militia, so as not to obscure a “painful memory that endures”argued the Elysée.

Tuesday’s presidential visit constitutes the second stage of a cycle of tributes for the 80th anniversary of the Liberation. A memorial journey which began at the beginning of April on the Glières plateau (Haute-Savoie), another decimated maquis. In June, Emmanuel Macron will travel to Manche, Corrèze and Haute-Vienne to continue the commemorations.

“The Song of the Partisans”, symbol of resistance

Tuesday, in the heart of the Vassieux-en-Vercors necropolis, THE Song of the Partisans resonates. This anthem, composed by Anna Marly and whose lyrics were written by Joseph Kessel and Maurice Druon, is an emblem of the Resistance during the Second World War. Formed in November 1942, the Vercors maquis numbered up to 4,000 men, including around fifty Senegalese riflemen and around thirty Polish high school students.

Young Vassivains pay tribute to the victims of the massacre of July 21, 1944

The rest of the tribute continues in the heart of Vassieux in the martyrology erected in memory of the 73 inhabitants, babies and old people, massacred in 1944 by the Wehrmacht. Young Vassivains take turns naming the first and last names of the victims. Other young people then lay wreaths around the martyrology.

Emmanuel Macron salutes the “silent brotherhood of the villages of Vercors”

In his speech, Emmanuel Macron first recalls the fundamental role of this region in the Resistance. He then greets the “silent brotherhood of the villages of the Vercors, a small homeland where France regained its greatness”.

On April 16, 1944, members of the Militia, supplementing the German forces, began a repression operation in Vassieux-en-Vercors. “Let us also remember these French people, their choices and their mistakesdeclares the President of the Republic. 80 years ago, French people killed other French people, because they refused this certain idea of ​​France, reestablished here.”