Saturday 27 May 2017

National Day of the Resistance

Today, 27th May, is set aside to remember and honour the fighters of the French resistance during the Nazi occupation. In "Remembering the summer of 1944", when the German army retreated from the south west towards the Normandy invasion beaches, a series of ceremonies will be held in the region.
The Germans were harried all the way by resistance fighters, many of whom paid the ultimate price. Some commentators have suggested that this tactic so distracted the German commanders that they spent precious time responding to resistance attacks instead of heading directly to Normandy as ordered. Of course it also led to the disproportionate reprisal at Oradour.
There is an on-line archive of film and commentaries, which allows you to select from different regional accounts of resistants compiled by France 3 TV, which you may access from this link.
http://lesresistances.france3.fr/home