French President Francois Hollande paid tribute to the “heroes of France” in an address to mark the 70th anniversary of the National Council of Resistance Monday, as he insisted the spirit of the resistance still held important lessons for modern France, as he concluded that the fight against anti-Semitism “is unfortunately still before us”.
The first lesson of the resistance movement, Hollande maintained “is to continue to fight against racism, against xenophobia against anti-Semitism. First, because it is a principle that should bring us all together. Then, because those who stood in June 1940 - they did before as against Nazism - they wanted to fight racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and hatred”. Continuing signs of overwhelming racial and anti-Semitic discrimination ”force us to fight this battle with great vigilance”, he added, in the interests of maintaining the values of the French Republic, as he echoed his previous vows on entering office last year “not to let anything go” in the vein of anti-Semitic deeds and words.
Acknowledging the hard-fought freedom as a “privilege” for former resistance fighters, seven of whom were present for the anniversary commemoration, he warned that “freedom is not static, freedom is not won forever, freedom evolves as we win new rights”.
“The spirit of resistance is to always believe in the future,” added the French President, as he called on the nation to inhabit the resistance mantra “that tomorrow can be better than today”. Heralding the efforts of one former resistance fighter present, Marie-Joe Chombart de Lauwe – whose underground opposition to the Nazi occupying forces earned her deportation to the Ravensbruck concentration camp in July 1943 – he praised her for maintaining “hope for future generations” throughout her wartime ordeal. “She tried to pass this great idea that youth should fulfill the destiny that could not be ours, as society advances, humanity is in progress. This trust then you must animate,” he added.
The resistance fighters continue to contribute to modern French society by bearing witness to the principles for which they stood, insisted Hollande, namely working for a higher cause more important than their own individual lives, through unity and community. “There are moments in our history, where we come together on what is essentially on the fact that we are a nation, we have values,” he stressed, as he focused on the founding spirit of the resistance movement, concluding that “people - and ours too - can recover from the disaster... we can, we must succeed. We owe it to those who have led the fight to us today women and free men”.