La Resistence in Macon, France

Free France Resistance flag

When we arrived in Macon, France it was raining on the way to the airbnb. It rained yesterday  and half of today . Then it was partly cloudy and about 60.  So we were able to walk around the town. It's a town of 33,000 people but seems bigger than that.

Macron started as a Celtic settlement in the 1st century BC. Then along came the Romans, known to be here then because of a large coin, plate and figurine stash found here in the 17th century. Therer were probably 30,000 gold and silver coins that disappeared (stolen) at the time. Eight figurines and a plate were left, that are now in, wait for it, the British museum.

In the middle ages this town controlled access to the wine growing area and lay between two kingdoms. It made a  lot of money off all of that.

It lived under Austrian occupation 3 times in its history. 

In World War 2 it was the northernmost city in unoccupied France. It was one of the centers of the French Resistance. 

We sat in a square today that has a memorial to those who died from Macon in the German occupation. There is a special plaque to memorialize Berty Albrecht, considered a heroine of the Resistance movement. She helped start a major part of the Resistance. She was tricked by the gestapo to go to a meeting in the square where she was arrested and then imprisoned. After being tortured, she committed suicide.

The Resistance involved all layers of French society and every occupation. They sabotaged German infrastructure, gave  information to the Allies and helped prisoners escape. A general said they supplied 80% of the information before D-Day.

Ninety thousand Resistance fighters were killed in the four year German occupation. 

The things you learn in a small town in France.

 

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September 29, 2022 at 08:38PM