Sun 22 Feb 2004
Near the Mont St. Michel. I found another intersting site today: A graveyard for some 11,000 German soldiers who died in France during WWII. Of course, the french countryside in this area is littered with gravesites for fallen soldiers
At first I was a little shocked by the presence ofthe site, and surprised that the French would allow such a thing.
But it does have a point. The grave sites are maintained by a German peace organization. Besides providing information to the families of the dead about the final resting places of their brothers, uncles, cousins. fathers, or sons, the site serves an educational purpose: that war is horrible no matter which side you are on.
There is an inscription near the entrance that says something like (I’m paraphrasing): “Healthy and safe people do not remember how terrible war is. If they did, they wouldn’t separate into groups and pursue conflicts. Heathly people don’t know the truth: no one believes the injured, and the dead can no longer tell.”
I was especially moved by this book excerpt that was presented in the information section of the memorial:
The memorial itself is arranged in a circle, and looks almost like a barracks. Each of the 68 crypts holds up to 180 soldiers.
The fact that places like this can exist on French soil reflects well on the people of France.
Mont St. Michel, seen from the graveyard.
