Memorial Execution 12 June 1944

On the morning of June 8, the resistance fighters of the AS (Secret Army) and the FTPF (Francs-Tireurs and French partisans) entered the city of Valréas and occupied the strategic locations.
A German attack, with 1,200 motorized soldiers, preceded by tanks, took place on June 12, resulting in a number of bloody clashes in and around Valréas.
Ultimately, the Germans recapture the city. A German officer orders Mayor Jules Niel to gather the residents in the town hall square. Then the Germans gathered 27 captured resistance fighters and randomly added 25 residents of Valréas. They were put in front of a wall, hands clasped to their heads. The mayor tries to intervene, he will only save two. Moments later, the shots from the firing squad sound.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Marianne Casamance