In the immense cemetery of Thiais (Val-de-Marne), south of Paris, this stele was erected in memory of the people who had donated their bodies to science.

About fifty members of the association "Charnier Descartes, Justice et Dignité" (CDJD) gathered there for the first time on Saturday, two years after the discovery of the scandal of the Center for the donation of bodies.

Carole Hugues, 60, tells AFP that she remembers "perfectly" the moment she discovered the affair in November 2019: "it was astonishment".

Professor, she was leaving for work when she heard on the radio the revelations of the Express on the "indecent conditions" of conservation of the remains of "thousands of people who have donated their bodies to science".

Ginette, his mother, was one of them.

Dilapidated premises, rotten remains eaten by mice, suspicion of the commodification of bodies ... Far from what Ginette hoped.

"Her idea was very simple, because she is a very simple woman, it was to serve something until the end", says Carole Hugues.

Since these revelations, an investigation in Paris has led to four indictments, including that of the University of Paris and the former president of the University of Paris-Descartes for "attacking the integrity of a corpse" .

"Way of saying goodbye"

Finding out about this scandal was "like going through mourning a second time", confides Baudouin Auffret, president of the CDJD association, holding a sign showing his father Georges, a former boy who became an oil tanker captain, who wanted to "serve one last times "by donating his body.

"This sadness turned into anger. We are here today in this cemetery to show that we know that the investigation will last but that we are united and that we will not let go."

"We would like justice to hear from other people," he explains.

"I hope that justice will be done, a little for us, to rehabilitate them, to restore their dignity, and then for all those who will want to give their body to science", also says Valérie Lenoir, 54 years old.

In this autumn month, it rains on the grave.

But Valérie wears sunglasses that hide her cloudy eyes.

"I think about it every day. It's unspeakable", breathes this resident of Val-de-Marne whose mother and grandfather had given their bodies "out of generosity".

In most cases, families regret that there is rarely a ceremony organized when the bodies of the deceased are donated.

So despite the anger expressed, this gathering brings some consolation: "it's a bit like the ceremony we did not have, a way of saying goodbye," says Laura, Valérie's daughter, posing a white rose on the grave, just in front of the accusing black plaque.

Behind, another, older commemorative plaque also adorns the stele.

It is written there: "Homage of the Paris-Descartes University to those who made the generous donation of their body for anatomical research and medical science".

© 2021 AFP