In four days, he may find a buyer.
Until then, the village of Sainte-Mesme and the French Souvenir association are trying to prevent the auction of the flag of the veterans of this village of just under 1,000 inhabitants located in the south of Yvelines.
Estimated between 60 and 80 euros, the object which dates from the inter-war period appears on interencheres.com and the transaction is organized by the house Chalot, in Fécamp (Seine-Maritime).
This is the subject of two complaints filed by the town hall and the association.
Revealed by "Paris-Normandy", the case could have gone unnoticed if a member of the association which defends the memory of veterans had not come across it a few days ago.
Jean-Pierre Mennessier, responsible for the memorial watch, received an alert as soon as the photo of the flag was posted online.
“Since the start of the health crisis, auctions have been done on the Internet, so I pin sites looking for patriotic symbols.
"
In one year, around twenty flags of this type “saved” from auctions
For this former soldier, these flags belong to the associations of veterans and do not have to be sold to collectors.
“The problem,” he adds, “is that the flag bearers are aging and in the event of death, the heirs clean the house and contact a second-hand dealer.
These symbols unfortunately no longer have the same value as before.
"
The price of the flag is estimated between 60 and 80 euros on the Interencheres.com site (screenshot).
Jeanne CASSARD
In one year, he recovered twenty-three patriotic flags.
And each time, "the auctioneer at the origin of the sale listened to my arguments and gave the object to the town concerned".
In the present case, the expert in question "did not want to know anything and decided to continue the sale".
It is therefore a first for the association to file a complaint for a flag.
The mayor wants to expose it, the inhabitants shared
An opinion shared by the mayor (SE) of the village, Isabelle Copetti.
When Jean-Pierre Mennessier contacts her, she also decides to do everything to recover the emblem.
“Its place belongs to the municipal museum or to the school for it to be exhibited.
Of the men from the village who fought, six died in World War I and two in World War II.
The sale may be immoral, but not yet illegal.
The centrist senator of Marne Françoise Férat tabled in February 2018 a bill to ban the sale of the flags of veterans associations.
The text, voted in the Senate, is still not on the agenda of the National Assembly.
Sainte-Mesme, Tuesday, April 20, 2021: in this village of 900 inhabitants, the question of the flag divides.
Jeanne CASSARD
In the streets of Sainte-Mesme, the question divides.
For Laure, the baker: “It's not a question of money but of principle, this flag belongs to the municipality.
If I had inherited such an object, I would have given it to the town hall.
"
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Questioned, another resident, does not feel concerned by the subject: “Maybe it is because I did not know the war but that will not prevent me from sleeping.
"
"I did not insult the flag"
The auctioneer is not at his first attempt.
A few weeks ago the house of Chalot et associés auctioned Nazi badges and a Jewish star.
The Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) had taken legal action to prevent the auction, but without success.
Here again, master Sébastien Chalot has the right on his side.
Contacted, he said he was outraged by the controversy and did not admit that he was given lessons in patriotism: "I did not face the flag".
Above all, he insists, selling this flag at auction is absolutely legal.
The auctioneer recalls that the object had already been put up for sale two years ago but had not found a buyer.
“At that time, no one was moved by it.
"
On the origin of the flag, he explains that his client, the seller, inherited it from his father without giving further details. In any case, he excludes it from giving it to the town hall of Sainte-Mesme and still plans the sale this Saturday.
