Volksbund opens exhibition in Marigny and inaugurates memorial with the Würth Foundation
Today the German War Graves Commission will expand the Marigny war cemetery into a memorial and learning center – one day before the 81st anniversary of D-Day, which marks the beginning of the liberation of Europe by the Western Allies.
A permanent multimedia exhibition provides information about the biographies of the soldiers buried there and shows the history of the Western Allies' landing ('Operation Overlord'). This exhibition combines modern media stations with historical architecture.
With the support of the non-profit Würth Foundation, a memorial approximately 3.5 meters tall was designed and constructed, which will be inaugurated today. It honors the US soldiers who fought alongside their allies for the liberation of Europe. A compass rose points to the four cardinal directions from which the Allied forces pushed back the Nazi dictatorship. For Carmen Würth, who founded the Würth Foundation in 1987 together with her husband Prof. Dr. h. c. mult. Reinhold Würth, the memorial is a tribute to those who liberated Europe and, at the same time, a call to everyone to preserve humanity and peace.
In front of the memorial, a trilingual plaque commemorates First Lieutenant Nathan B. Baskind and all other US soldiers. The American soldier, who was Jewish, was buried in a German comrades' grave in Marigny in 1944. In 2023, he was exhumed, identified, and solemnly reburied the following year at the American military cemetery in Colleville under a Jewish gravestone. This was carried out by the Volksbund in cooperation with 'Operation Benjamin' from New York.
The Volksbund was founded in 1919 to search for the dead of World War I and inform their relatives. It maintains more than 2.8 million war graves worldwide. Even today, the humanitarian organization continues to clarify the fates of war dead. For more than 70 years, it has been committed to a more peaceful future through international youth work and numerous educational projects. The private association finances its work primarily by donations.
www.volksbund.de
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