As you know, I am fascinated by the Monuments aux Morts that one finds throughout France, and Decazeville has a fantastic, very place specific one. It commemorates both the victims of war and the victims of labor, and, uniquely, does not list the names of the victims. Those are recorded on a plaque in the church. So the placement of the monument in front of the church is significant.
Originally commissioned in 1920, its installation was delayed until 1934 because the architect and the company hired to construct were fighting. Eventually the city had to intervene to get the project back on task. The bronze decorations were cast by André Léon Galtié. In 2018, it was listed as an historic monument along with 41 other monuments aux morts in southwestern France.
The monument is made of concrete faced with stone, and consists of an obelisk resting on a raised pedestal. A long vertical groove was hollowed out on the front and back of the obelisk, and a meter-tall bronze miner's lamp stands at front on a plinth that records the years of the World War I: 1914 - 1918. Around the base are bas-relief allegories--war and peace--as well as smaller images of a dead soldier and a trapped miner.
The obelisk and base are placed on a square platform; the monument is reached from any side by climbing five steps.
A decade ago, the city had planned to move the monument as part of street improvement program. It was--and still is (so you know how this tale turns out)--in the center of Decazeville on Place Wilson in front of the Notre-Dame church. Its location is bordered by traffic lanes, and the city planners felt that "the commemorations at the foot of the current monument do not always obtain the solemnity they deserve," due to the noise of automobile traffic. In addition, since this monument does not record the names of the dead, the town fathers thought adding the names and relocating the monument would give Decazeville "a real war memorial."
These discussions took place under the heading of the "preservation of collective memory."
They left the final decision to veterans of previous conflicts, and the veterans raised objections. Said one, “Personally, I think this pacifist war memorial has its place in the place it occupies. On each of its faces, we find the symbols of miners, of peace and of war. These powerful symbols give this monument a special character. For the transmission of the values expressed by these symbols, the monument must retain the place it occupies. It would be a mistake to move it. "
For another, “For me, this monument, established for the victims of war and labor, occupies an ideal location, and its displacement would take away a lot of its character, not only in terms of the memory we owe to those who died for the homeland, but also to the long and often tragic history of our former miners. In expressing this feeling, I am speaking not only on my own behalf, but also for a large number of people who are hostile to this displacement. They have shared with me their feeling that the monument should remain where it is--in the heart of the city and near the church, inside of which is the plaque in memory of our soldiers who gave their lives for our Fatherland."
The monument is still in front of Notre Dame so the nays carried the day.
I find this discussion of the "preservation of collective memory" fascinating in light of our homegrown arguments about statues that were raised to celebrate heroes of the confederacy, those traitors who fought the USA to preserve slavery. While the American arguments also speak of preserving our collective memory, our heritage, the difference is in what the statues commemorate: they were installed to reinforce the supremacy of white Americans and terrorize black Americans. We must never to forget that dark history, but we must never celebrate or honor it. Americans must move forward to a more perfect union.