Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone honors the “sixteen valiant souls” of the Fusillés de la Madeleine

Véronique Négret, mayor of Villeneuve and vice-president of the Metropolis, during her speech. – PCa

In this year of the 80th anniversary of the liberation, the ceremony on Thursday March 14 opened the procession of commemorations on the steles of sixteen young resistance fighters, shot between March 14 and July 10, 1944.

A lot of emotion, on this morning of Thursday March 14, on the site of the Stele des Fusillés, route de Sète, commune of Villeneuve-lès-Maguelone.

Thousands of Montpellier residents, Sètois and Villeneuvois pass daily in front of this memorial which punctuates the dual carriageway of the N112, near the junction towards Gardiole and Fabrègues, without suspecting of the historical charge of the building.

They gave their lives for freedom

In this year of the 80th anniversary of the liberation, the ceremony opened the procession of commemorations in honor of those who gave their lives for freedom. Here sixteen resistance fighters, aged 17 to 38, shot below, on the mound of the Madeleine shooting range, between March 14 and July 10, 1944 (read our edition of Sunday March 10).

Many elected officials around the prefect of Hérault, François-Xavier Lauch.

A parade of tricolor scarves already enlivened the assembly of around sixty participants upon the arrival of the prefect of Hérault François-Xavier Lauch. After his greetings to senators Jean-Pierre Grand and Hussein Bourgi, to the numerous mayors gathered, headed by Véronique Négret, mayor of Villeneuve and vice-president of the Métropole (in particular alongside Jacques Martinier, mayor of Fabrègues, or of Michelle Cassar, from Pignan), to the representatives of the Metropolis and the Department, the ceremony was about to begin.

"Worse than death, oblivion"

Three speeches imposed a silence barely disturbed by the traffic on the adjoining dual carriageway.
Patrick Poitevin, president of the Regional Center for the History of Resistance and Deportation, emphasized how"These executed people, from the region and beyond, are the visible heroes among many others. In this 80th anniversary year, let us continue to honor the memory of all these men."

Véronique Négret, then, spoke of "the sixteen valiant souls" to the &quot ;convictions anchored to the body". Drawing a parallel with the pantheonization of Missak and Mélinée Manouchian, the chosen one recalled "the imperative need to remember" facing the "monster of nationalism". Véronique Négret insisted: "There is worse than death, it's oblivion: let us carry their memory so as not to execute them a second time.& quot;

François-Xavier Lauch formalized "the promise of State assistance to make the necessary corrections to certain names inscribed on the sixteen steles".

Executed at the end of "justice of the worst"

François-Xavier Lauch was going to detail facts "committed by Nazis but also militiamen, French and surely volunteers for these execution missions.& ;quot;

The prefect formally "the promise of assistance from the State to make the necessary corrections to certain names inscribed on the sixteen steles", as historians took so long to authenticate the sixteen shot, executed at the end of "justice of the worst", without instruction or defense, conducted by the government's special courts of Vichy.

François-Xavier Lauch then read the minutes of the judgment of Antoine Mirallès, March 13, 1944, "that I&#39 ;I found with the help of the director of the Departmental Archives", deciding to "the execution in the field of shooting of the Madeleine, on March 14, 1944, at 6:30 a.m.", of this "mechanic, Catholic" 21 years old.

"Risks we run in our society"

In fact, after a short interview with the chaplain of the Montpellier remand center, "justice was done on March 14, 1944, at 6:45 a.m. legal ", the prefect read again, doubling his power to say: "But what justice are we talking about ?&quot ;

François-Xavier Lauch finally underlined: "My place was here this morning, 80 years later, to say what the French did to the French& ;quot;, also confident that he is "well aware of the risks we run in our society".

The elected officials were going to place flowers on each of the sixteen steles. Only the birds accompanied the Ringing of the Dead, before everyone resumed the Marseillaise.

The assembly reached the mound of the shooting range, about a hundred meters from the war memorial, for a final wreath-laying. In memory of all valiant souls, those of Madeleine and certainly beyond.

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