Buried in this cemetery just outside the village are 44 members of the French ‘Milici’ from Haut-Savoie. They were sentenced to death on 24 August 1944 after a short trial by an occasional court martial for treason and executed immediately afterwards.
The French ‘Milici’ was created on 30 January 1943 by the Vichy regime and its mission was to fight the resistance. In Haut-Savoie alone, they were responsible for more than 1,000 deaths. Not surprisingly, they were widely hated and were the first target of the FFI (the French Internal Army) when France was liberated.
This cemetery where 74 bodies were originally buried has long been hushed up and forgotten. People were-and are-not keen to be reminded of this dark past.
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