Chasselay, the day the German army massacred African infantrymen

The "Tata" of Chasselay which shelters a necropolis of 196 steles, north of Lyon. Wikimedia Commons / Taguelmoust

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While France is currently commemorating the events of June 1940, during the debacle of the start of the Second World War, in Chasselay, north of Lyon, it is African skirmishers that we think of. On June 19 and 20, nearly 200 of them were coldly murdered by the Germans. It was one of the largest massacres of black soldiers committed almost systematically at the time.

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For many German soldiers, they were not soldiers, or even men, but rather "Affen", monkeys. Proof of the degeneration of France and its army, according to Nazi propaganda. It is filled with this hatred, this fear, that they unleash their violence against the colonial troops while France collapses.

On June 17, Marshal Pétain called for an end to the combat. North of Lyon, on June 19 and 20, the 25th Senegalese riflemen regiment resisted , following the order of the general staff to curb the German descent to the Rhône. The fighting was uneven and the skirmishers forced to surrender. The captured black soldiers are separated from the whites and shot dead by panzer machine guns. Others are also murdered during a real skirmish hunt in the area.

A necropolis of 196 stelae

Today, 196 stelae inhabit the national necropolis of Chasselay, surrounded by four pyramids clad with piles, also ocher, and guarded by traditional masks. The "Tata" ("sacred enclosure" in Wolof), built in 1942 on the initiative of a veteran, Jean Marchiani, who himself bought the land, keeps alive the memory of these men who died for France in Lyon region.

An official tribute ceremony will take place Sunday in Chasselay in the presence of Geneviève Darrieussecq, the Secretary of State to the Minister of the Armed Forces.

For the first time, photos of these events are published in the book by historian Julien Fargettas, specialist in colonial troops, in June 1940: Combats et massacres en Lyonnais , which has just been published.

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  • Second World War
  • History
  • France
  • Africa
  • Senegalese riflemen

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