Ivy has invaded the sometimes cracked tombs, trees have grown between the 5,220 Orthodox burials and on some tombstones small signs have been placed.
"Concession expired"
, they mention.
As a result of the war in Ukraine, the Russian cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois (Essonne) is no longer maintained.
Long gone are the days when Vladimir Putin, newly elected President of the Russian Federation, came to lay flowers on the tombs of the Soviets in exile.
Today, the city can no longer accept money from the Kremlin: transactions with the Central Bank of Russia have been prohibited.
Nature has gradually taken back its rights.
Before the offensive commanded by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, many Russian tourists came to stroll there.
They reflected on a part of their history, that of their illustrious compatriots who had fled the Bolshevik revolution.
At the turn of the alleys we meet Rudolf Nureyev, Serge Lifar,
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In 2005, a partnership between Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois and Moscow was signed.
According to the terms of the agreement, Russia replaces the absent families because many concessions have no descendants.
Jean-Pierre Lamotte, president of the association Les Amis de l'histoire de Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois told
Le Monde
that since 2005,
"2 million euros have been paid by the Russian Federation to the city"
, for the renewal of the Russian concessions which represent 70% of the cemetery.
Nicolas Lopoukhine, chairman of the Russian Orthodox Graves Maintenance Committee (Cesor) at the cemetery, is alarmed and explains that he is working to raise funds.
“
We can find the 10,000 or 15,000 euros which would make it possible to renew for ten years the twenty-two expired concessions.
For longer, it will exceed our possibilities, it is obvious, ”
he admits to Le
Monde
.
Without renewal of the concessions, twenty-two tombs risk falling into disuse.
A political center
The cemetery was established in 1927, just after the first wave of Russian immigration to France (1919-1921).
At the end of the Second World War and then in the 1970s and 1980s, two other waves of immigration followed.
Enough to fill the necropolis since the remains will not return to their native land.
“A particular square was thus constituted in the purest Russian style
(…).
This cemetery thus became the largest Russian necropolis abroad”
, writes Vassilis Pnevmatikakis in
The Russian cemetery of Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois: history and identity issues of a corner of Russia in France,
published in 2015.
If this cemetery is confidential in France, in Russia it is very famous.
On November 1, 2000, when Vladimir Putin had just taken over as head of the Kremlin, he treated himself to a private visit to the Essonne necropolis.
An important symbol and illustration of
"Russian reconciliation"
.
At the time, he aroused surprise by going to meditate on the grave of dancer and choreographer Rudolf Nureyev.
In the 1960s, the artist had driven the KGB crazy by
"going West"
.
At the start of the 21st century, Vladimir Putin wanted to forget those old times.
"We must all remember, never forget, that we are children of the same mother whose name is Russia
," he said.
