In the presence of Deputy Prefect Sylvie Cendre, along with civil and military authorities and veteran associations, a ceremony was held this Sunday at the Caucade cemetery where the deportation memorial is located.
For the record, the number of people deported from France to Nazi concentration or extermination camps during World War II is estimated at over 150,000, with 80,000 being victims of repressive measures (mainly political and resistance fighters) and 75,000 Jews, victims of persecution measures affecting also the Roma people. In total, more than 100,000 deportees who left from France perished.
In the early 1950s, the former deportees and the families of those who did not survive the deportation expressed the wish to have a national commemoration to preserve the memory of the deportation added to the calendar.
This need to preserve the memory of the deportation was recognized by the law of April 14, 1954, unanimously voted by Parliament, which dedicated the last Sunday of April as the “National Day of Remembrance of the Victims and Heroes of Deportation,” during which the nation honors the memory of all deportees without distinction and pays tribute to their sacrifice.
The last Sunday of April was chosen due to its proximity to the anniversary of the liberation of most camps.
