Macron hails Resistance martyrs ahead of 80th anniversary of D-Day landings

President Emmanuel Macron visited the southern French town of Vassieux-en-Vercors on Tuesday to lead a tribute to the local Maquis Resistance fighters who launched an attack against pro-Nazi forces 80 years ago – before a final counter-attack by German troops. 

French President Emmanuel Macron walks through the cemetery in Vassieux-en-Vercors, France, 16 April, 2024. via REUTERS - Laurent Cipriani

Macron's trip to the small village in the Drôme mountains, which was completely destroyed during World War II, is part of a series of commemorative visits to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of France from Nazi occupation.

Earlier this month, the French president visited the Plateau des Glières – the site of another Maquis guerrilla force that was decimated – and the Maison d'Izieu, where Jewish children were rounded up by the Gestapo.

The climax of the commemorations will take place in June in Normandy, in memory of the D-Day landings by Allied forces – the largest seaborne invasion in history. 

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The two-part ceremony, got underway at 3pm at the Resistance cemetery and then in front of a monument to the martyrs – a bas-relief listing the names of the victims in the main square – where the president gave a speech, emphasising the "exemplary" nature of the Maquis, that has been praised as "the embodiment of a France inseparable from Republican values".

EN DIRECT | Cérémonie commémorative en hommage aux habitants de Vassieux. https://t.co/OOO5Y8230L

— Élysée (@Elysee) April 16, 2024

Exposing 'grey areas' of WWII history

Tuesday's commemoration was a unique event, as Macron became the first French president to pay tribute there.

While the remembrance of the Vercors Maquis is traditionally celebrated on 21 July – the date of the final assault by German troops in which 840 Resistance fighters and civilians were killed – the choice of 16 April marked the first attack by the French militia.

The commemoration was also seen as an opportunity to revisit "a time when the French didn't like each other ... which means exposing all the grey areas", a source close to the presidency told the AFP newswire.

The Maquis was formed when the Vichy-led "free zone" was invaded by Nazi and Italian fascist forces in November 1942, in response to the Allied invasion of French North Africa.

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Initially made up of people looking to avoid the compulsory labour service set up by the Vichy Government for the benefit of the occupying forces, the Maquis reportedly numbered some 4,000 men – including around 50 Senegalese riflemen and around 30 Polish high school students.

Vassieux-en-Vercors is one of five French towns to have been awarded the title of Compagnon de la Libération, along with Paris, Nantes, Ile de Sein and Grenoble.