Leaders of the French Government, including President Charles de Gaulle, took part here yesterday in commemorative services marking the 20th anniversary of the liberation of many of the Nazi concentration camps, Gen. de Gaulle attended special services at Notre Dame Cathedral, while Prime Minister Georges Pompidou and two other members of the Cabinet participated in rites conducted at the Monument to the Unknown Jewish Martyr.
The Rt. Rev. Msgr. Riquet, dean of Notre Dame, preached the sermon at the centuries-old cathedral. The priest had himself been imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp during the war. In the presence of the president, he preached a sermon recalling those “days of horror and terror,” and led a prayer for “all those, whatever their race or creed, who vanished into the long night.”
Meanwhile, M. Pompidou, accompanied by Pierre Messmer, Minister of Defense, and Jean Sainteny, Minister of War Veterans, took part in the ceremony at the Monument to the Unknown Jewish Martyr. Walking down a long lane of Jewish war veterans, whose units displayed their flags, and while a shofar sounded a dirge, the Prime Minister, flanked by a Presidential Guard of Honor in full uniform with swords drawn, laid a wreath at the foot of the monument. The wreath was inscribed simply: “From the Prime Minister.
Thousands of persons stood at attention during the rites. Many wore striped concentration camp uniforms. Chief official Jewish participants were Grand Rabbi Jacob Kaphlan and Baron Guy de Rothschild, president of Fon is Social Juif Unife. The traditional prayer for the dead was recited by a cantor. Similar services were held in cities and towns throughout France. Special programs recalling the Nazi terror were presented on the French national radio and television networks.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
