France celebrated the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II on Thursday.
French President Emmanuel Macron laid out a wreath in front of a crowd of statues of General Charles de Gare, who led the national memory of the Paris capital and led French resistance to Nazi Germany.
But it also faced a calm reality as it reminded me of the millions of people who fought and died in the war. Few people have witnessed the horror in person.
Marcjanna Marcinkowski, 89, was nine years old when Paris was released from the Nazi occupation in 1944.
“That’s a real concern because finding myself can really bother me,” she added.
Marcinkowski fears the lessons of the war risks lost in today’s younger generations.
“I feel that these lessons have already been forgotten. At school, we have stopped talking about World War II and World War I completely,” she told Euroneus.
But as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine becomes furious at the European gateway, a handful of remaining veterans feel that history is on the brink of repeating itself.
“I’m very committed to peace. I have to do everything I can to prevent people from killing each other,” said Jean Yaglekzian, a 101-year-old World War II veteran.
“I’m very attached to this message because I’ve seen too many people (death) in the most vicious ways.
Marcjanna Marcinkowski did not etch her words.
In his speech, Macron reflected similar feelings, warning himself to self-satisfaction in the face of today’s tension.
“We will never fight to defend victory and peace,” the French president said.
“We will never end insist on the place of our nation and defend our independence and freedom. So, yes, there is always France.
