Maintaining the graves

Left: Véronique Peaucelle-Delelis, director-general, ONAC-VG. Right: Dirk Backen, director, VDK.

How many French and German graves are there on French soil? And how many on German soil? Where are most of them located?
 

Dirk Backen, director, VDK (DB):  France occupies a central place in the work of the Volksbund. It is our second most important focus, after Russia. The German military cemeteries in France are located on the sites of major battles: in the Somme, Marne, Normandy and Alsace. We maintain over 1 000 military cemeteries in France.

There are 214 for the victims of the First and Second World Wars, and around 800 for those of the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). The biggest First World War cemetery is at Neuville-Saint-Vaast, which contains 44 888 victims of war. The biggest Second World War cemetery is at Andilly, Meurthe-et-Moselle, where 33 123 bodies are buried.

Véronique Peaucelle-Delelis, director-general, ONAC-VG (VPD): Today, over 1 024 000 German soldiers are buried on French soil, the majority in cemeteries located in the areas where the fighting took place: northeastern France and Normandy. On the French side, over 890 000 soldiers and victims of war, including 38 000 from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, are buried in our 280 national cemeteries or equivalent and 2 200 military plots.

Most of these burial sites are in the north and east of France. There are also a significant number in the south, at Fréjus, for those killed in Indochina, and in the west, at Sainte-Anne-d’Auray, where the soldiers from Brittany are buried.

Under the Treaty of Frankfurt, in 1871, the French and German governments made a mutual undertaking to maintain the war graves on their territories. Has this policy changed since then?

VPD : In France, for a long time mass graves were the norm. The 1871 Treaty of Frankfurt officialised the desire, on both sides of the Rhine, to undertake the permanent preservation of the graves. It was also behind the establishment of new French legislation which, for the first time, provided for the digging of war graves. Under the law of 4 April 1873, the State acquired concessions in local cemeteries and land on which to build ossuaries for burying the dead. Between 1873 and 1878, it funded the construction of 25 large ossuaries and the digging of 87 396 French and German graves.

But the real turning-point came with the First World War. Burial practices more concerned with individual soldiers developed, so that each grave now bore a grave marker by which to identify the deceased. This was reflected in the Code of Military Pensions for Invalidity and Victims of War (CPMIVG) by the law of 2 July 1915, which established the wording “Mort pour la France” (“Died for France”), and that of 29 December 1915, which introduced permanent, individual graves for those killed in war, and made the State responsible for their upkeep in perpetuity. When the war ended, the search for bodies on the battlefields and their reburial were systematised, leading to the establishment of war graves, in the national cemeteries and military plots we know today, which were created by the law of 31 July 1920. Families could also request for the bodies to be returned to them, in which case they lost the right to a perpetual resting place and its upkeep by the State.

French law has of course evolved to take account of new contemporary conflicts and grant those killed in overseas operations the right to a perpetual resting place; this is reflected in the adoption of a provision in the new CPMIVG, which entered into force on 1 January 2017.

Renovation of the ossuary on the military plot of Bois de la Roche, in Cutry, Moselle, by Metz-Chambière staff. © ONAC-VG

DB : The agreement signed on 19 July 1966 between the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic laid the legal bases for this collaboration, as well as for the upkeep of German military cemeteries on German territory.

The creation and upkeep of many cemeteries where soldiers are buried constitute the application of that treaty. Thus, we maintain some 800 military cemeteries from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, 192 German military cemeteries from the First World War and 22 German military cemeteries from the Second World War. The joint Franco-German facilities are maintained jointly by ONAC-VG and the Volksbund, in a proportion set out in an agreement.

Since October 2018, the Volksbund’s war graves service has used its own maintenance procedure in France. In 2018, a total of € 5.4 million was spent on maintenance, 4 million of which related to staffing costs.

And given the specific nature of that maintenance, it is worth remembering the many maintenance activities performed by German army personnel, as well as those carried out by youth camps and extra-curricular work parties. For 2021, 15 interventions by the German army are planned, though their execution may be affected by the current pandemic. The pandemic will also decide whether the five youth meetings planned so far will be able to go ahead.

How is grave maintenance organised at regional level?

DB : The VDK is a charity founded in 1919 by members of civil society. It caters for demand from the Federal Republic of Germany. The competent ministry here is the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The VDK receives two-thirds of its funding from donations and one-third from the public budget. It receives material resources from the Federal Ministry of Defence, as well as funding from the Ministry’s Children and Youth Programme, for the learning activities it does with schools and extra-curricular groups. The VDK is responsible for the military cemeteries outside Germany. In Germany, local councils are in charge of the upkeep of the cemeteries, though there may be some involvement from the Volksbund’s regional offices.

In France, the VDK employs around 100 people to maintain 186 cemeteries. A further 28 are employed by subcontractors or local councils.

VPD :  In France, since 2010, the National Office for Veterans and Victims of War (ONAC-VG), an executive agency of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, has been responsible for the upkeep, restoration and improvement of war graves and key national remembrance sites, as set out in the CPMIVG.

The upkeep of the war graves (national cemeteries and military plots) involves tending the green spaces, landscaping and performing small-scale stonework, metalwork and paintwork. For 70% of heritage, the task is carried out by council teams, for which the Office draws on a network of eight maintenance sections, covering the whole of France. These sections, comprising around 140 workers divided into 22 teams, consist mainly of green space maintenance operatives. Most of these teams are based in the northeastern quarter of France, as well as in Calvados, Charente, the Rhône and the Var.

For the remaining 30% of heritage, maintenance of green spaces is outsourced to specialised commercial operators. But contracts are also regularly awarded to companies in the sheltered/adapted employment sector (disabled workers supported through a vocational rehabilitation centre), which is a key element in the Office’s CSR policy.

Finally, the military plots in local cemeteries are maintained by local councils or voluntary organisations like Le Souvenir Français, through partnership agreements. The partners are paid € 1.50 per grave maintained.

How do the VDK and ONAC-VG cooperate?

DB : Our cooperation consists of dialogue and advice, as well as the mutual upkeep of the cemeteries. The critical confrontation with the past and the reconciliation work that still goes on today have laid the foundations for the good relations between the two countries. The Volksbund began its work in France very early on. We realised that the expression “Reconciliation over the graves” could be applied to specific cases. A shared culture of remembrance paved the way for friendship between our two nations. The military cemeteries were an opportunity for people to meet and network with others in the same situation. Many towns and villages became twinned after this binational cooperation.

One particularly striking example of the shared French and German remembrance culture is the memorial of Hartmannswillerkopf/Vieil Armand, which saw the involvement of the Volksbund in its creation. Its official opening, in autumn 2017, illustrated the full significance of these remembrance sites in our mutual understanding. But a great many youth exchanges and camps, school and extra-curricular projects also take place against a backdrop of Franco-German friendship. For a future of lasting peace, the friendship between the young people of these two countries is of paramount importance. For nearly 70 years, the VDK has been organising international youth exchanges. The Volksbund’s work with young people is always centred on the same subject: the military cemeteries.

French and German youth work parties on the battlefield of Hartmannswillerkopf. © VDK

They are a resource for coming together and learning about European history. On these sites, young people acquire knowledge of the different nations – and not only from a historical perspective, as they also discover new points of view. This broadens their horizons. The VDK has four youth centres, one of which is in Niederbronn-les-Bains, in Alsace. One of the completely unique projects we have been involved in with them is the Franco-German cartoon competition. It is ten years since ONAC-VG held the first edition of its cartoon competition Bulles de Mémoire (“Memory Bubbles”). In 2018, the year of the First World War centenary, the Volksbund joined the initiative, and soon will be the launch of the fifth call for applications for this Franco-German cartoon competition.

VPD : There is indeed a tradition of cooperation, which is reflected today in the reciprocal or shared upkeep of sites, in France and Germany. This mutual assistance enables us to increase efficiency and cut costs, at the same time as reducing travel and making it more cost-effective. Our two countries also cooperate closely on discoveries of human remains in the former combat zones, something which still occurs frequently, or on emblem-cleaning operations, which take place regularly with French and German service personnel. These operations are a time for shared tributes and contemplation.

But as my colleague quite rightly mentioned, this shared memory is today passed on by other means, which cater to the tastes and expectations of young people, such as drawing, drama, intercultural exchanges and sport. Increasingly, our cemeteries and key national remembrance sites are the focus of a cultural approach, with film screenings, dramatic readings, guided or semi-guided tours, etc., which enable these places of remembrance to be viewed in a different light. In particular, this perspective leaves plenty of room for multi- or intercultural approaches that emphasise crossovers and transnational aspects of the conflicts. At the heart of this shared initiative linking our two philosophies is the ever-present concern to make the traces and conflicts of the past intelligible to the young people of our two countries, so that they have the keys with which to understand and get involved in the present.

To what extent are French and German people sensitive to this “stone memory” and what it represents?

DB :  In the Federal Republic of Germany, many young people find it difficult to imagine that, in the past, France and Germany were “hereditary enemies”. That is because our two countries get on well today and we have developed a very close neighbourly relationship, particularly through the organisation of visits to France, school exchanges, study abroad and internship programmes. It is precisely for that reason that this shared past is not as prevalent as it should be in either country. Through these educational initiatives, and our remembrance and commemoration projects, we want our society to get to know its history, because, in our opinion, it is important to remember that the peace that reigns between our two nations is precious and should not be taken for granted. And what better way to shed light on it than in a military cemetery in France?

VPD : In France, funerary heritage has a really vivid place both in French people’s collective imagination and in their spatial environment. Everyone is familiar with war memorials, for instance. Erected in all town and village squares, they are a physical marker of a shared history: inscribed on them are the surnames of your forebears, neighbours, friends. In general, the French are attached to the traces of the past, as revealed by the nationwide appeal for personal memorabilia for the First World War Centenary. Stone heritage thus represents a shared history that is common not only to all French people, but also to our allies and former enemies.

The enmity that might have persisted through the cult of memory is today much less present, especially among young people: their relationship with these places of remembrance and history is both distant – they did not know the people buried there – and close – they are detached from the old divisions and more eager to get to know the diversity and complexity of the stories.

Our countries have been working at reconciliation for over 70 years now, and it is fair to say that our societies are progressing together towards being at peace with the memories of past conflicts. Our cooperation is nevertheless seeing some symbolic new challenges that will serve to strengthen our ties: for instance, the digging of the Seine-Nord Europe Canal involved searching and locating the remains of soldiers killed in the First World War, and a discussion around how these men should be honoured, whatever their nationality.

The editorial team