Stalingrad Commemoration
Eternal
Honor and Gratitude from the People of France to the Heroic Fighters
at Stalingrad
General de Gaulle
and the French people have acknowledged the essential role of the
Soviet Union in the victory over Hitlerism.
While, from the schools
to the media, and with all the declarations from the “European
Parliament”, a suffocating propaganda blanket has forced a false
equivalence of the Soviet Union with the Third Reich, true lovers of
Democracy still hold a place in their hearts for those who fought at
Stalingrad, Kursk and Leningrad, those whose extraordinary sacrifices
broke the back of the Nazi war machine, allowed the broad
counter-offensive by the Red Army and the taking of Berlin, during
which the West finally opened the Second Front against Hitler’s
vile militarism.
The Historical
Imperative of World War II led to the “belle et bonne” alliance
between the Soviet and French fighters based on a cooperation between
Free, Equal and Fraternal peoples, a cooperation that is still in
effect today on a European and global scale. On his arrival in
Moscow on 20 June 1966, General de Gaulle described this relationship
to President N.V. Podgorny when he spoke of The Great Russia he had
seen in 1944: “Staunch in the warrior spirit that had carried it
to victory, and to a large degree had also brought victory to France
and its allies;” then at the Kremlin reception, by underlining the
strong feelings of solidarity in France, he recalled “the
extraordinary part played by the Soviet Union in this decisive
victory;” which he specified on 30 June, had brought the USSR “the
highest degree of power and glory.” On this occasion, a bi-lateral
declaration was signed giving important impetus to cooperation in
many fields. The domain of outer space is still testimony to this
pact.
Whatever we might think
of the USSR and its history—or whatever might appeal to your point
of view in the many unbiased and unexaggerated debates—no one can
deny that the Battle of Stalingrad has a place in History at the same
level of importance as the Battle of Marathon, where the young Greeks
stopped the Empire of the Mèdes—or the Battle of Valmy, where the
French Revolutionary Army repelled the invasion by European
counter-revolutionaries.
On 2 February 2008 in
Paris, we commemorated the 65th anniversary
of the victory at Stalingrad, because the pro-fascist governments of
the Baltic States had reached the height of ignominy with their
erections, in the face of sanctions by the European Union, of
monuments to the Nazi SS. We stand in solidarity with the strong and
legitimate response issued by Russia and the nations of the CIS in
defending the honor and heroism of those fighters who gave their
lives for the preservation of freedom.
At this moment when the
EU is being arrogantly led around by Berlin, crushing the people,
their national sovereignties and their social gains; at this moment
when the leaders of the MEDEF1
(Mouvement d’Enterprises de France—the largest association of
French Business Owners) is calling publicly for a “change of
atmosphere” to better sell-off the country and the accomplishments
of the CNR (Comité National de Routier, a European version of the
Teamsters, concerned with the transportation of merchandize on the
highways, railways, and airways.); at this moment when the people are
standing up more and more against Imperialist Wars and the tyranny of
the Financial Markets, with their military force, NATO, threatening
Russia and the countries of the CIS with an American-made
anti-missile shield; at this moment when the criminalization of
Communism in Eastern Europe is stoking a freedom-killing witch-hunt
and setting the stage for the posthumous revenge of Fascism;
The signatories of
this appeal, representing different political persuasions:
- Call on the population of France to continue the struggle of the heroes of Stalingrad and of the patriotic, anti-Fascist Resistance in defending National Independence, Democracy, and Social advancements, so that a new Euro-Atlantic Reich, destructive of our Freedoms, does not succeed Hitler under the threadbare guise of pseudo-democracy;
- Call for fulsome combat against all forms of Racism and the Xenophobia of the State;
- Condemn Anti-Communism, not to be confused with the critical discussions and debates on the outcomes of History’s first experiments in Socialism, and which are used, first and foremost, by the ruling oligarchy as ideological weapons to the break-up the great body of democratic achievements made by our people and people everywhere.
- Demand that the Public Services that are French TV and Radio program histories of the Red Army and its landmark year of 1943, featuring its victories at Stalingrad, Kursk, the launching of the final offensive against Berlin, and the cooperation pact between General de Gaulle and the USSR, which blossomed into the formation of the Normandy-Niemen Regiment, as well as the Soviet participation in the fighting led by the Ukranian miner, Vasil Porik, from 1942 to 1944, in the mines and villages of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, a combat signaled by the Great Patriotic Strike of May-June 1941.
In respect to their
own personal convictions, the signatories also call for a rally on 2
February 2013, at the Place de la Bataille de Stalingrad, in Paris.
The future obliges us to
celebrate the 70th anniversary of the victory at
Stalingrad with a unity of the Patriotic, Republican and Anti-Fascist
forces, to express our eternal gratitude to the combatants of the Red
Army in that martyred city, where they determined the destiny of
Humanity.
By multiplying these
decentralized initiatives, all aimed in the same direction, during
this week before the anniversary, the signatories of the Declaration
call upon workers, women and men, the young defenders of Peace,
Progress and National Independence, and all those who are determined
to take part in the defeat of Fascism, of Racism and of the
Xenophobia of the State, and of Imperialism: to mobilize
themselves and their colleagues to make a great noise in the French
capital,
A NATIONAL GATHERING
WITH INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION
will take place on
SATURDAY 2 FEBRUARY
2013
at 2:30 pm (for the
organizers) and 3:00 pm (for the demonstration),
PLACE DE LA BATAILLE
DE STALINGRAD (metro Stalingrad)
with speakers and the
placing of flowers at the monument to the heroes of Stalingrad.
Coordinator:
Pierre Pranchère, member of the Resistance, Honorary Deputy, 2 Puy
Salmont, 19800 Saint-Priest-de-Gimel, email:
Pierre.pranchere@orange.fr
-- tel: 05 55 21 35 55
To get involved, send
your signature to Jany SANFELIEU (janny.sanfelieu@wanadoo.fr),
indicating your First and Last Names / Position / Address / email &
telephone.
1
Contact:
Maitre Alain le Garrec, mediator for France Television, 7 Esplanade
Henri de France 75015 Paris.
Tel:
01 56 22 99 61
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