Three events to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Nîmes

Un défilé devant les arènes de Nîmes des maquisards. Collection famille Gosselin

Colloque, cérémonie, exposition au programme des célébrations du 80e anniversaire de la Libération du Gard et de Nîmes.

Several events will celebrate the 80th anniversary of Nîmes.

A ceremony this Sunday, August 25

A commemorative ceremony will take place on Sunday, August 25, starting at 10 a.m., on Boulevard Jean-Jaurès, at the monument to the Martyrs of the Resistance and Deportation, in the presence of civil and military authorities. Beyond what will take place in Nîmes, several Gard municipalities will not fail to remember this key moment in history throughout the end of August.

A free conference at Carré d'Art

Hosted by the head of the Nîmes editorial office of Midi Libre, Émilie Bec, a free public conference will be held at the Carré d'art auditorium on Wednesday, August 28, starting at 9:30 a.m., to discuss the period of the Occupation and of course that of the Liberation in August 1944.

Historians and witnesses will speak during round tables as part of this event organized by the City of Nîmes in partnership with Midi Libre, your regional daily newspaper from the Liberation.

The public will be able to hear Francine Cabane, history and geography teacher at the Collège Révolution, Didier Lavrut, associate professor of history in the preparatory classes of the Daudet high school, Armand Cosson, associate professor and doctor of history, Arlette Chavanieu, Suzanne Jullian, born in 1932, and the key witness Jean-Claude Martin, who lived in Nîmes at the Liberation.

They will not fail to bring all their knowledge of the event for 1 hour 30. A great opportunity to remember the more than difficult daily life of the Gard population during the Second World War, the atrocities committed by the Occupier, the Collaboration and the role of the resistance fighters thereafter.

For those who want to attend the conference, you must register on the eventbrite.fr website. Entrance to the Carré d’Art auditorium will be on August 28 via rue Gaston Boissier from 9:30 a.m. with the start of the conference at 10 a.m.

An exhibition at the Gard Departmental Archives

The Gard Departmental Archives are offering an exhibition on the Liberation in the Gard until September 30 at 365 rue du Forez.

Of particular note are the information on the formation of the maquis, particularly in the Cévennes, the terrible fighting that took place during the Liberation in several Gard municipalities (read on page 3), the establishment of the Departmental Liberation Committee which made it possible to administer the department before the 1945 elections. The exhibition supported by the Department received the label: “Mission of the 80th anniversary of the landings, the Liberation and the Victory” A guarantee of quality.