“Today we are witnessing the trivialization of ideas that led us to the abominations of the Second World War”: in Quimper, a commemoration of May 8 very anchored in the present

Like the representatives of Ufac (Federal Union of Veterans) and the UNC (National Union of Combatants). “On May 8, 1945, in Reims and Berlin, the army of Nazi Germany capitulated. Nazi barbarism finally defeated. May 8, 1945 brought hope for peace. However, today we are witnessing the trivialization of ideas that led us to the abominations of the Second World War, disregarding the lessons of the past. Religious fanaticism, terrorism, awakening of nationalism… The return of war to the four corners of the world reminds us that peace and freedom are never definitively acquired.

Touching texts read by high school students from Brizeux

Three high school students from Brizeux and a middle school student from Sainte-Thérèse read touching texts on this victory and the end of the war. Citing for example the resistance fighters and intellectuals Joseph Kessel or Maurice Druon. “The day has come, so the day has come, the world has been waiting for it. The men knew it was promised. But within this certainty, we felt a dark disbelief. So many days, so many nights and so many lives. And this horrible habit of horror grew in everyone,” recited high school student Pauline Camus.

“Never was atonement so terrible, complete and perfect. And his approach has never been so well measured and so visible. There is an elementary majesty there, the sacred reality which has not yet been reached in the memory we have of the non-misfortune of men,” continued, in a very beautiful interpretation, the high school student Alexis Pitaud.

German playwright Bertolt Brecht was also cited. “If we all say no, then war will be peace, and peace will be the future. People, you yourself are the destiny of the world, remember our strength. »

Le Souvenir français, for its part, highlighted a Finistère figure, “who brilliantly embodies courage and fidelity”, Micheline Le Bot, born in 1927 and died in 2025. She joined the Resistance at 17 and accomplished intelligence and sabotage missions, including the derailment of a train linking Quimper to Brest. “She left behind a life lesson in France. His example reminds us that duty is not an abstract idea, it is a concrete commitment. Always essential.”

Three medalists in the military ranks

Finally, the prefect mentioned Charles de Gaulle’s speech before the National Assembly on May 15, 1945. “To transmit this moral force, the first weapon of a people who knew how, on the edge of the abyss, to recover, a people, ours, that neither military misfortune, nor the bankruptcy of institutions, nor the lie, nor violence have been able to divert him from his eternal vocation. »

Three medalists were honored during this ceremony: frigate captain Solène Rovarc’h, knight of the Legion of Honor, reserve battalion chief Jean-Marc Collet and reserve master petty officer Yann Auffret, knights of the National Order of Merit.