Remembering Verdun

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Remembering Verdun
It lasted for 10 murderous months and, by the time it ended, 720,000 French and German soldiers had lain killed or wounded on its fields of battle.   But the Battle of Verdun, whose first shot was fired just 90 years ago on February 21, 1916, was the turning point of World War I.  It was a battle fought in muddy, rain-drenched trenches, on fields laced with barbed wire and pitted with dead and decaying bodies in the craters of death-dealing cannon shells. But it marked the first time the main German advance into France had been halted and then turned back.   Much like the battle of Gettysburg in the U.S. Civil War, it has since become for the nations involved, now allies, a major symbol of the senseless suffering and loss of life that war brings.   It was not by chance that the then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and French President François Mitterrand chose Verdun in 1984 for a historically photographed handholding ceremony that symbolically consecrated the new era of friendship between two nations that had so often been enemies.   And, in this anniversary year, France has launched a major memorial effort to drive home the message of peace now in association with Verdun.   More than 100 commemorative events will be taking place in the Eastern France department of the Meuse, where the battle was fought and which still is dotted with meticulously tended World War I and World War II cemeteries where the soldiers of both warring camps lie at rest.   Not only will the battle of Verdun be honored, however. Successive commemorations are planned for other major battles of 1916, in particular that of the Somme River in Picardy to the north and west.   It was that battle, launched successfully on July 1 by combined French and British forces, that in essence saved Verdun by forcing Germany to transfer vast numbers of its troops away from the siege of the city in order to reinforce their armies along the Somme.   The commemorative year’s ceremonies will begin appropriately enough, with a concert in Verdun by the noted American singer Barbara Hendricks, not only a long-time European resident but also a lifetime honorary ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and the creator of her own foundation dedicated to “Peace and Reconciliation.”       Others festivities will honor the battles that, little by little by November 1916, won back for France the ring of fortresses around Verdun, Fleury, Douaumont and Vaux that had been taken by German forces in their initial attack, an assault that pitted 10 German divisions against only five French ones defending the city.     The themes have been carefully crafted to be ecumenical in spirit with honor duly accorded to the French “Poilus,” as their foot soldiers were known and of whom only a handful remain alive.   But respect will be paid also to their German foes and to the soldiers from France’s colonies in Africa, Asia and the Middle East who fought as part of the French forces.    The support of the tourist industry in Picardy and The Meuse has been enlisted for the commemorations as well.   “l’Historial de la Grande Guerre” in the Picardy city of Perron is the nation’s main museum devoted to World War I, often called in English “The Great War” or “The War to End All Wars” or, in French, “La Der des Ders.” That’s slang for La Dernière des Dernières, “The Last of the Last,” which, unfortunately, it wasn’t.   Normally l’Historial, a museum similar to “Le Memorial” in Caen (its Normandy counterpart focused on the World War II landings and battles), welcomes some 80,000 visitors annually, but is girding for a significantly increased tourist flow this year.   So are all the sites concerned, monuments, battlefields and museums. Almost all in the Meuse will be offering free entry for visitors from February 20-26 and at least 50 different hotels, restaurants or other lodgings of a bed and breakfast nature have agreed up through the end of May to provide a free third night for any guests booking at least a two-night stay.   For an edifying and emotional trip down memory lane in France, this is the time to head for the Meuse or, in July, to Picardy.   Details concerning the battle for Verdun, lodging, transport and special events can be obtained from the Meuse department’s web site: www.meuse.fr      Other helpful sites:  www.historial.org  or www.centremondialpaix.asso.fr
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