The ceremonies commemorating the armistice of May 8, 1945, which marks the end of the Second World War in Europe, will take place this Saturday, in front of the war memorials of the cities of France.
“The vast majority of these were built between 1920 and 1930. From 1945, the principle was to inscribe the names on the existing stelae”, notes Serge Barcellini, general president of the association Le Souvenir français, based in Paris.
As for November 11, these days are those of remembrance and homage to fallen soldiers.
In Ile-de-France, only nine municipalities, mainly small villages, do not have a war memorial according to the MemorialGenWeb site, managed by the Ile-de-France association Acam, which relies on "130 volunteers and 2200 contributors" for list.
Among them, three are in Essonne (Mauchamps, Les Ulis, Bois-Herpin), three in Val-d'Oise (Le Plessis-Luzarches, Moussy, Menouville) and three in Seine-et-Marne (Le Plessis-Placy , Sept-Sorts, Villiers-en-Bière).
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Villiers-en-Bière does not deplore any fallen soldier.
But how to explain the absence of a monument in the other municipalities?
In Essonne, the village of Bois-Herpin, 79 inhabitants, officially has only one "death for France".
Ferdinand Perdigeon, born in Loiret, was a farmer in the village.
He died in February 1915, on the front of the Meuse, at the age of 31.
His name has indeed been inscribed, but on the commemorative monument ... of the neighboring town, La Forêt-Sainte-Croix.
"The lack of money could have presented an obstacle"
“I imagine that Bois-Herpin did not dare to erect a monument to the dead for one person,” thinks Guy Crosnier, mayor of La Forêt-Sainte-Croix. The monument also includes the name of Henri Guerton, resident of this town, and grandfather of the current 1st deputy of Bois-Herpin. He was killed in May 1917, in the Meuse. “His wife was pregnant with her fourth child at the time of her death. She died of grief after giving birth in 1918. "" Every year, we come and lay a wreath at the war memorial at La Forêt-Sainte-Croix to pay tribute to her, "said Evelyne Thouément, the mayor of Bois-Herpin.
In Plessis-Luzarches, in Val-d'Oise, three soldiers sacrificed their lives for the country between 1914 and 1918, according to the MémorialGenWeb site and the registers that we consulted on the Mémoire des hommes site of the Ministry of the Armed Forces. Mayor Patrick Fauvin was unaware of it. Pure coincidence, since the start of his mandate, he has been carrying out a project for a war memorial. Which is therefore timely. "I care a lot, it was in my program, especially as I am part of a veterans association," says the elected.
This absence of a commemorative monument, although it remains rare, does not surprise Serge Barcellini of Souvenir français.
“The Dead mentions for France were not given in 15 days, we are still asking for them today.
If they were awarded years after the end of the conflict, it is possible that there was no longer the same enthusiasm in some small towns to erect the monuments.
"Serge Barcellini also evokes their cost:" The lack of money could have presented an obstacle for the small villages.
"
Sometimes a simple plaque
In addition, “there is sometimes a plaque in the church or in the town hall, continues Serge Barcellini.
In these cases, the town halls did not necessarily consider it useful to build a monument in addition.
"A representative of the National Office for Veterans and War Victims (Onacvg) of Essonne, on the other hand, refutes the idea" of a lack of patriotism ".
“It is hard to imagine a mayor, just after the First World War, refusing to commemorate the dead.
"
The law of February 2012 also specifies that “when the mention
Death for France
was entered on the death certificate, the inscription of the name of the deceased on the monument to the dead of his municipality of birth or of last domicile, or on a stele placed in the immediate environment of this monument, is obligatory ”.
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"The request must be made by the family, an elected official, or ourselves," explains Véronique Lefèvre, departmental director of Onacvg in Val-d'Oise.
But when there is no monument to the dead, we cannot impose its construction on the mayor, who is the sole decision-maker in the matter.
On the other hand, he can affix a plaque on a public building of the municipality.
This is the choice made by that of Plessis-Placy (Seine-et-Marne).
This plaque, inaugurated on December 18, 1920 in the council chamber of the town hall, pays tribute to the 14 children of the town killed during the Great War.
In recent years, villages without a commemorative monument have been working to repair this historical oblivion.
The commemoration of the centenary of the First World War was an opportunity for town halls to delve into their archives… and to exhume the names of soldiers who died during the two world wars.
This was the case in Moussy, in Val-d'Oise.
On November 11, 2014, the village inaugurated a plaque.
"The members of the municipal council considered it important, as a duty of memory, to pay homage to the four Dead for France", justifies the mayor Philippe Houdaille, whose grandfather and great-uncle returned alive from the trenches.
In Les Ulis, no war memorial… but a menhir!
With this plaque, the town hall also wished to honor the memory of the two civilians of Moussy killed in an Allied bombardment on July 10, 1944. On the other hand, it is impossible to say why the previous municipal councils did not erect a memorial site earlier.
"Maybe because the size of the village was not big?"
“Asks the mayor.
The only medium-sized city in Ile-de-France not to have a war memorial is that of Ulis en Essonne, with 25,000 inhabitants.
And for good reason: the city was born only in 1977, on agricultural land devoid of any construction.
"After the installation of the first municipal team of which I was part, the question arose of a memorial place", rewinds Gilbert Piantoni, who is still today the dean of the municipal council.
With Paul Loridant, the recently deceased first mayor (PS) of the town, they have an idea that is at least original.
“We went to look for a menhir in Brittany, which we installed on a roundabout.
This is where we organize all our ceremonies, July 14, November 11 and May 8, the meditations after the attacks.
It is not a specific place to commemorate the dead.
"
A choice motivated by an ideology "of peoples' freedom and emancipation after 1968", he specifies.
“With Paul Loridant, we were not in the spirit of the wars won.
A war is always a mess.
"
