It is a little after 2 p.m. on Tuesday, and the sign that has stood above the entrance to Parc Simone-Veil since this summer is loaded into a van by municipal employees of the city. d'Ermont.
A withdrawal that punctuates a controversy born the day before on social networks.
Because the shape and material of the sign, which marked the entrance to this new green space located a few meters from the Ermont-Eaubonne station, bore a disturbing resemblance to the phrase "Arbeit macht frei" ("work set free”) affixed by the SS at the entrance to the Nazi concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau... of which the former minister was a survivor.
“I noticed it from day one, and it shocked me”
"Indecency beyond comprehension", tweeted a user about a grid "which echoes shamefully at the entrance to the Auschwitz camp", with photos of the two entrances.
What arouse many indignant reactions: "a very sad negligence", a parallel "odious", "insulting".
“Who validated the design and installed this??
asks a journalist.
🤦🏻♂️ AMAZING!
Meanwhile in #Ermont, indecency beyond comprehension: inauguration of Simone Veil Park with a gate that shamefully echoes the entrance to the Auschwitz Camp.
It's going to be the trainee's party again, but it's getting very serious all the same!
pic.twitter.com/ZrQme86Ti8
— E. David Benaym (@benaym) October 10, 2022
Residents crossed on the spot were also moved.
“I noticed it from the first day, and it shocked me, sighs a septuagenarian, who lives a few streets away.
It's a pity that they chose this form.
In addition, there is a school right next door.
It is a symbol.
Pierre himself hadn't paid attention.
“I pass in front of it every day, and I hadn't noticed, recognizes the young man.
But I understand that people have made the parallel and have been affected.
“Marie-Hélène, she prefers to remember the homage to the former minister, who entered the Pantheon a year after her death.
“I don't know why they made this grid, slips the retiree.
Is it voluntary?
I don't understand.
But what is certain is that it is a good thing that the park is called Simone-Veil”.
“No analogy or unfortunate coincidence should be sought there”
The town hall, for its part, therefore preferred to play appeasement by removing the sign from the park, inaugurated this summer.
“This structure was designed taking into account the technical considerations of the place (visibility, pilaster spacing), explains the city in a press release.
No analogy or unfortunate coincidence should be sought there.
»
Ermont, this Tuesday.
The controversial pediment has been removed.
Another will be installed soon.
LP/CL
Recalling its intention to "pay a solemn and emphatic tribute to this icon of the republic, to his fights for women's rights and to his generosity", the community explains its choice: "In view of the many unfounded tweets and comments, and in view of the controversy born on social networks around this park, the municipality has taken the decision to proceed today with the withdrawal of the sign, specifies the press release.
It will be replaced very soon by a new slender structure, of the wood type”.