![]() ![]() France is getting ready to show its gratitude towards World War II veterans who will come, many for the last time, on Normandy beaches for D-Day ceremonies that will come as part of a series of major commemorations this year and next marking eight decades since the defeat of the Nazis. “We feel it in the contacts we have, in the trips we make, with many local and regional authorities involved.”įrench authorities are notably considering launching an nationwide operation to collect family documents, objects and audiovisual material related to World War II that would help keep the memory alive.A man sits by gravestones in the the American Cemetery during a ceremony to mark the 79th anniversary of the assault that led to the liberation of France and Western Europe from Nazi control, in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, June 6, 2023. Other key events will include celebrations of the Allied landing in Provence, in southern France, and the liberation of Paris, both in August, as well as the liberation of Strasbourg, at the border with Germany, in November, and the commemoration in May 2025 of the surrender of Nazi Germany to Allied forces.Ĭeremonies will also allow France to pay tribute to Resistance fighters, to soldiers who came from its then colonial empire in Africa and to the civilians who suffered during the war.Īlready across France, “we feel that there’s a very strong mobilization to remember this very important period in history,” said Fabien Sudry, deputy director-general of the Liberation Mission. He stressed the fact that “populations of the former Soviet Union, Russians in particular, but also Ukrainians and others, participated in this liberation.” ![]() Étienne said that the commemorations, including some academic events, “will surely not ignore the sacrifices of everybody who … was involved in the liberation of Europe, including in the East, because the Nazi regime was defeated both from the West and from the East.” Putin didn’t attend the 75th anniversary in 2019.Ĭountries like France that have signed and ratified the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court are obligated to arrest Putin, who was indicted for war crimes connected to the deportation of children from Ukraine, if he sets foot on their soil. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had been present for the 70th anniversary of D-Day, wasn’t expected to be invited this year. or any danger we could face tomorrow or today,” he added. And we need to have this cohesion of our nations, of our populations to be able to answer to any question. ![]() “The civilians were part of this (World War II) conflict because they suffered and they supported fighters. Because the price of liberty is something that any citizen of any democratic nation needs to understand.” Michel Delion, director-general of the Liberation Mission, said “that the message is more for the whole population than only for soldiers. In the past couple of years, commemorations also have taken a special meaning as war is raging again in Europe since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. ![]() “What we want above all, when the last witnesses, the last fighters, the last veterans are still with us, is to give their testimonies to our young people,” Étienne added. ![]()
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