Repeated Attacks on Christian Churches

Joachim Véliocas has a long post devoted to 7 acts of vandalism and desecration perpetrated against Christian churches and monuments over the past 5 years. In these cases, the perpetrators were Muslims, not Satanists as is so often the case nowadays, especially with cemeteries. He feels these facts should be brought to the attention of the politicians so that they can finally admit the truth: world-wide jihad has predictably entered the gates of a France without borders. The first story is the most recent and has received considerable coverage at the French traditionalist blogs, including Bivouac-Id. I also mentioned this incident in my recent post on Ramadan:

On July 9, 2009, the chapel of la Croix-de-Metz in the city of Toul was the object of serious vandalism: stained glass windows smashed, the bell tower's cross covered with a black flag, and the priest threatened. Overwhelmed, he has left the area.

"My mind is made up, I'm leaving. It's becoming unbearable. For almost one week, it's been happening every evening!" declared abbé Noël. It's true that for several days, at nightfall, the priest of la Croix-de-Metz appears to have been the target of a group of young persons. Stones and pebbles rained down on the stained glass windows of the chapel where he has lived since 2002. "Until last year, I never had a problem," confides the priest. "For the past year, I would say that this sort of thing has been happening sporadically. But since last Wednesday, it has been continuous, or almost. It always begins at 9:30 p.m..."

Last week, the man who was hoping to leave on tiptoe, without making waves, finally went to the police to report on facts that he could not keep to himself. "This time, they threatened me verbally, saying 'We'll have your hide!'" Abbé Noël's move was aimed only at attracting attention and at putting a stop to a situation he called only "abnormal".

Some members of his congregation also spoke up: "In all, six windows of the chapel were broken," one of them complained, citing pebbles and parpens that landed in the hallway of the apartment, amidst glass debris. A resident of Toul points to the cross on top of the church: "Look, they covered it with a sort of black flag," he sighed, visibly unable to comprehend. "There is such a thing, after all, as respect for a place! I don't know how they got up there, but you can see that they did!"

Note: A parpen is a brick or a stone, such as a cinder block, placed inside a wall for reenforcement.

"The electrical box, near the front of the chapel, was smashed to bits a few days earlier." The priest confirmed these facts on the violence: "Sunday night, they threw a stone that hit my wrist, breaking the glass of my watch!" Last year, "they even threw a stone that landed in my bed! My mind is made up, I'm leaving (...)"

The author of the article points out that the black flag (below) placed on the cross was in fact the Islamic flag of war, of jihad.


This story of Toul aroused the indignation of the bloggers because it received little coverage in the mainstream media, while the graffiti scribbled on a mosque in Toul at about the same time became the pretext for extended police investigations, media and government outrage, promises to give the perps their just desserts, and pledges from Catholic leaders to encourage love and understanding between the religions. Le Monde dated August 19, reported on the vandalism at the mosque:


The façade of the mosque in Toul (photo left) was covered with racist graffiti and pieces of pork meat during the night of August 18-19, announced the prosecutor of Nancy, Raymond Morey. "These acts of degradation and inciting to racial hatred are unacceptable," he declared. Two young men in their twenties were arrested shortly after the discovery of the vandalism.

Racist graffiti were painted on the walls of the edifice: "France for the French", "Here it is Nazi", "Don't touch my pig", "enough of these immigrants", along with Nazi symbols. "The feet and part of the head of a pig were also hanging from the doors and windows of the mosque," added the prosecutor.

Note: I used the bland word "immigrants" above to translate the untranslatable "bougnouls", a pejorative term that may refer to blacks or North Africans.

The CFCM (French Council on the Muslim Religion) called on the authorities to "do everything" to find and arrest the authors of the xenophobic and racist graffiti. "The CFCM expressed its strong indignation at this latest racist and xenophobic assault that once again targeted a place of prayer, of peace and meditation," said the Council's communiqué.

The city of Toul joins the Maghrebin community of Toul in the "sadness and consternation at the appearance" of these graffiti, judging them to be the "work of the extreme Right and its confederates who don't know what to do to attract attention."

Le Monde closes with this priceless line:

For now, no connection has been established between this case and the damages inflicted on abbé Noël's chapel located in the same peaceful (sic!) neighborhood of la Croix-de-Metz.

Le Conservateur weighs in on this story in a post dated August 22:

The difference in the way the media treated the stories of the aggression inflicted on a Catholic priest and the graffiti on a Muslim place of worship has enraged quite a few Catholics, including those who were of the "bleeding heart" variety. This is a good thing... Every day eyes are being opened to the reality of how our country is evolving.

Still, it's useless to go too far out of your way to find convoluted explanations. Journalists, for their part, lie because most of them belong to the extreme Left and suffer from an Islamophilia that approaches a kind of mental AIDS. As for the politicians, starting with the UMP party, they're scared to death. This little world trembles at the thought of having bricks hurled at them by more commissioners, or even worse, by more welfare recipients. They're ready to do anything to keep the cover on the pot.

In this respect, they are forgetting rather quickly the lessons of history. Submission and cowardice have never bought respect.

Obviously, this graffiti is stupid. It makes no sense and gives the Islamists one more opportunity to indulge in their favorite sport: passing themselves off as victims, with the knife between their teeth...

Note to Le Conservateur: If the attack helps the Muslims it is not stupid...

Note: It is impossible not to retain as noteworthy the facts that these two events happened in the same city, that the first one - the chapel - was committed by jihadists, that the second one occurred on the eve of Ramadan, that the police immediately caught the perps of the second one, that the media was almost silent regarding the chapel, and quite energetic regarding the mosque.

I had mentioned at the beginning that there were 7 attacks on churches over the past 5 years. Joachim Véliocas describes the May 2009 attack on a church in Toulon:

The Church of the Sacré-Coeur, in the mainly Muslim neighborhood of Routes, has been the target of continuous attacks for two years. Urine in the baptismal font, excrement in several places, a church official attacked, the tabernacle desecrated, not to mention repeated thefts and damages. In the parish there are feelings of despair and depression. To such a point that the building has been shut down for several weeks. "This has been going on for two years," explains the vicar general. "It all began when we were obligated to wall up the place where the heater was located following a number of violations. It had become a squat for many young persons who had almost settled in there."

Destruction, thefts and insults have continued ever since despite police rounds. On April 28, a 73-year-old church worker from the parish was attacked as she was preparing to open the hall of the parish council. A thug attacked and robbed her, dragging the poor woman on the ground and causing a fractured arm and psychological aftereffects. "Now, I'm afraid to go out. I used to be an autonomous person, and now I've fallen into a state of dependency," she confides, visibly shaken.

A longer report on this event in the local paper Var Matin (one of the few papers to report on it) added this:

Faced with such determined criminals, the parishioners decided to take action and express their anger: "We no longer feel safe. We cannot accept just anything without reacting." On May 10, after Mass, a hundred congregation members and neighborhood residents gathered in the courtyard of the church. "I would like the person who attacked the elderly lady to realize that in a few seconds he could have become a murderer. And what would his life have become?" asks father Molinas. Confronted with all this violence, we are at a loss. And concerned about the future of our society and of our children."

Faithful to the Christian message, the parishioners of the Sacré-Coeur church are prepared to forgive, but not necessarily to turn the other cheek...

The photo below shows the parishioners on the steps of their beleaguered church.


The other five attacks on churches include:

(...) serious damage to the church Saint Antoine de Ginestière in Nice in January 2007; arson in the Saint-Marc chapel of Marseilles that destroyed the edifice completely in August 2007; on December 13, 2006, a prayer room in Rougière where Muslims had been squatting since Ramadan was taken over by police. On December 14, in revenge, the Rougière chapel was set on fire. Outside, 6 cars were burned and an inscription was found on the wall of a bakery: "No mosque = riots all year"; in March 2005, 6 Molotov cocktails were hurled at the John XXIII chapel in Sartrouville, a city with a sizable Muslim minority, including a salafist cell classified by the DST (intelligence service). After three years of work the restoration is completed, but the church will not have any bells, so as not to disturb the Muslim population!

Finally, in September 2004, Valeurs Actuelles was the only publication to tell of the jihad in Montereau, department of Seine-et-Marne, in the neighborhood of Surville under Turkish Muslim control. Father Buchard, then in charge of the parish describes it:

"They terrorized the merchants until they left, only to be immediately replaced by them (i.e., the Muslims). Clearly it was children and gangs of adolescents who did the job ('at the instigation of adults', says a note from the editor). They talked about 'minor crimes' and a 'neighborhood at risk'. It was none of that. It was war, in the name of sharia, waged against ethnic Frenchmen and Christians. At every religious holiday, cars belonging to Christians were singled out and vandalized. For the Christians of center city were not to be allowed to celebrate their faith in the neighborhood church with the lovely name of Notre-Dame-des-Pauvres without feeling afraid. This church was burned without a word of protest from the authorities. My car was also burned. Those belonging to the priests and deacons were systematically destroyed. In this neighborhood they danced on September 11."

Note: One thing that characterizes all of the above incidents, besides the obvious, is the silence of the press and the "authorities."

Joachim Véliocas suggests to French readers that they consult Indignations, a site that repertories the saga of church destruction in France. I borrowed its logo below.

234 Mosques and Growing...

A short post at Bivouac-Id gives a rundown of the number of mosques just in the region of Île-de-France:

On the occasion of Ramadan 2009, the Muslims of Gennevilliers inaugurated a spanking new mosque capable of holding 2000 faithful. Soon, a cultural center will be added. Gennevilliers is located in the region of Île-de-France, department of Hauts-de-Seine. The region has a total of 233 mosques, distributed as follows:

- Seine-Saint-Denis : 51 mosques

- Yvelines : 33 mosques

- Val-d’Oise : 30 mosques

- Paris : 27 mosques

- Val-de-Marne : 23 mosques

- Seine-et-Marne : 23 mosques

- Essonne : 21 mosques

- Hauts-de-Seine : 25 mosques, three of which are in Gennevilliers: the first one at 3 rue Poissonnières; the second at 5 route Principale du Port; and now the third one at 30 rue Nazet.

That makes 234 mosques just in Île-de-France!

The video below shows the inauguration of the new mosque.



The video shows what has become a standard scenario for announcing a new mosque: first, the complaints that there had been overcrowded conditions, that some Muslims had to pray in the streets, the struggle to obtain funds (it took 15 years to gather the funds for the new mosque), the joy of the Muslim population now that the mosque is completed, their assurance that the cultural center will be open to non-Muslims, the remarks by some city official that it was only right to fulfill the wishes of such an important part of the community, etc... One could almost call it a pre-fabricated event, that goes off according to a pre-determined schedule, with a standardized dialogue for standardized actors, all of whom look and sound the same. Unlike Christian churches, especially the older ones, the mosques themselves provide little architectural interest, and from the photos I've seen, are just eyesores on the landscape of suffering Catholic France. In the above video, Mohammed Ben Ali makes the following statement:

"Many said to us, 'Thank God, it's just like being in our village.' I said to them, 'Now it is our village, we are in our village!'"

That line did not go unnoticed by Bivouac-Id. He is saying, in essence, that Muslims have no wish to be French. They only want to be in their own village, and so they have brought the village to Genneviliers.

At Islamisation, Joachim Véliocas reminds us that he has been following this mosque since its inception. The first stone was laid by the Communist mayor Jacques Bourgoin in January 2007. Véliocas wrote in March 2008:

In Gennevilliers, out of 42,000 inhabitants, there are 17,000 Muslims. An important voting bloc. The land was ceded for one symbolic euro, in the form of a 99-year long-term lease. For a lot of land 2300 square meters on the ground, it's a real bargain. The mosque will have a total surface of 4000 square meters. The only condition imposed by the municipality is that the minarets do not extend higher than the city hall tower, or 15 meters.

A Haven for Illegals

Is this a tale of dhimmitude, or of compassion? For French nationalists/traditionalists, there can be no doubt. It began in August 2002, when the Saint-Denis Cathedral was occupied by illegal aliens seeking both shelter and amnesty. The anniversary of that event is the subject of this mawkish article from the Communist paper L'Humanité:

Beneath the monumental nave of the basilica of the Kings of France, the illegals ("sans-papiers") are murmuring. Not daring to disturb the tranquility of the centuries-old site, the speakers whisper into the mikes. But gradually the voices become louder and more assured. Seven years ago, thousands of illegals occupied the Saint-Denis Cathedral demanding amnesty.

At the invitation of the diocese, they commemorated the event yesterday (August 16). "I am delighted to welcome you to our cathedral," announced vicar general Daniel Pizivin, "you whom they call 'undocumented', forgetting that you are men and women in all your dignity." He then read a message from bishop Monsignor Pascal Delannoy: "Since August 2002, the Saint-Denis Cathedral has become the symbol of fraternity and hope, but also of combats to be waged day after day. (...) I am in communion of thought and of prayer with each one of you, and particularly with those who live in uncertainty of the future."

Note: In the following paragraphs, "Coordination 93" refers to the association formed in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, the 93rd department of France, for the purpose of helping undocumented aliens.

Seven years after the occupation, those who lived through it remember it as a turning point in the struggle of undocumented aliens. "The Coordination had organized the occupation in order to legalize the cases of 50 Algerian illegals", remembers Jean-Claude Cluzel. "But the media talked about it all the time and thousands of illegals, believing in a miracle, arrived from all over France. It was amazing! There were waiting lines as far as the gates of Paris." Coordination 93 estimated that 5000 illegals came to Saint-Denis; a few hundred obtained legalization. This was true of Mohamed Malouf, an Algerian, 39 years old, who slept 20 nights on the front steps of the cathedral. Today, he is a florist in Saint-Denis, and remembers the daily demonstrations by royalists, angered that undocumented aliens were approaching the necropolis of the kings of France...

"The great victory of 2002 was to bring the undocumented aliens out of the shadows," says Agnès Cluzel. People could no longer pretend they didn't exist." Father Bernard Berger, who was at the time priest of the basilica, also speaks of the movement getting "into orbit." "Man is universal, to welcome others is indispensable", adds the priest who is now retired. "I have a dream: to reach a point where no one speaks any longer of nations, but of universality."

Note: His "dream", like that of Martin Luther King, is one of eradication of differences, and mixing together disparate elements meant to remain separate.

Seven years after this historic occupation, the struggle is more relevant than ever. "Their situation has gotten worse," laments Jean-Claude Cluzel. "The laws are more and more severe and only allow legalization through work, with a very precarious working permit."

And yet, even though the times are tougher than ever, the movement is having trouble finding its unity. Thus, next Saturday, for the commemoration of the occupation of the Saint-Bernard church, two parallel demonstrations have already been scheduled.

Note: The Left regards this "historic" event as being of monumental importance in the history of France, perhaps comparable to the Revolution itself! Certainly a continuation thereof. Where else but Saint-Denis could it have taken place? They are killing their kings again.

Le Salon Beige reacts:

You are never more betrayed than by your own kind. It leads us to dream that the Kings of France who are sleeping in the basilica, and who were sometimes excommunicated, will one day rise from their tombs and give these clerics a good kick. They busy themselves with problems that are not theirs, and they would do better to stick to their only real mission: religious matters and the safeguarding of holy places.

Other Salon Beige readers reacted much more vehemently.

Below, from Flickr, Henri II and Catherine de Médicis repose in Saint-Denis:


Mosaic on the tomb of a Merovingian King. Cathedral Saint-Denis, Ile-de-France:


Photo at top from the same set.

Liberation Day 2009

Yesterday, August 25, was the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Paris. Le Monde covered the story, which appears to have barely made a ripple in the French press:

President Nicolas Sarkozy called on the French people to "prove themselves worthy of the heritage" of the liberation of Paris, on its 65th anniversary, and declared that "security is one of government's priorities."

The president celebrated this anniversary at the prefecture of police in Paris, which at the time of the liberation had risen up against the Germans. "Everything that the liberation of Paris means, this collective burst of intelligence and will, this fierce ambition to think and to construct the future so that it becomes once again a promise, all of that makes us beholden," he declared in the presence of Prime Minister François Fillon, Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux, Mayor Bertrand Delanoë, and police prefect Michel Gaudin. (...)

Note: Sarkozy's words and choice of location for the "celebration" strike me as odd. Was there any sort of parade, or festivity? When he speaks of "security" is he speaking of crime (for which he bears part of the responsibility)? Or was he speaking of the unwelcome occupation by the Germans (which could be compared to the politically correct and officially accepted occupation of France by non-assimilable aliens today, for which Sarkozy also bears much responsibility)? And did he mention "national identity" or "sovereignty"? Or only some vague notion of a "promise"?

According to a more expanded account at Slate, Sarkozy unveiled a plaque commemorating the police officers who had resisted. An act considered to be controversial:

"(...) because the Parisian police, especially during the round-up at Vel' d'Hiv were better known as active collaborators.

Nicolas Sarkozy took pains to specify the police who resisted were, "like their compatriots", a "minority until the Liberation."

Anyone not familiar with Vel' d'Hiv can read the Wikipedia account of this indoor bicycle track that became notorious in 1942.

Some passing thoughts: It doesn't appear that Sarkozy clarified the problem of resistance vs collaboration, when he reminded the French that only a minority of them resisted during the War. If he had over-praised the Resistance, he might have triggered some feelings of nationalism, anti-immigrationism, and anti-Brussels-ism. If he had over-condemned the collaborators, he would have been indirectly condemning himself and the Parisian police today, who in a totally different situation, it is true, collaborate with the invaders, i.e., the foreign elements that are undermining French civilization. By reminding the French that only a minority resisted, he is also indirectly ordering them to repent for their crime of collaboration, and to see to it that it doesn't recur. In other words, do not do to the Muslims today what you did to the Jews yesterday, thus making the "amalgamation" that has been so effectively used to quell any resistance to Muslim immigration.

Ramadan for Everyone

Here's a story that's making waves at the Catholic websites. It seems that La Croix, presumably a Catholic publication, with a website as well, is singing the praises of Ramadan, the month of "fasting" for Muslims, now underway. I place "fasting" in quotes, because Ramadan is often more about hearty eating than fasting. The fast is broken every evening at sundown and the feasting begins, sometimes lasting through the night.

Louis Chagnon reports, writing at Bernard Antony's blog:

Ramadan is on the front page of the August 21 issue of La Croix! The paper rhapsodizes about the custom of the fast, which they say is "decidedly on the increase among young people", and goes to the trouble of interviewing Muslims residing in Normandy, Brittany, Lorraine and Lyons. What a deluge of obsequiousness!

Does this "Catholic" journal rhapsodize like that over Catholics practicing Lent?

As Ali Rahni, a member of the Collective of Muslims of France, says in an interview with La Croix: "The month of Ramadan is devoted to the revelation of the Koran; it is therefore the right time to plunge once again into the Book." A most judicious piece of advice that the journalists at La Croix ought to follow. They would read, for example: "Fight those who do not believe in God or in the Last Day, those who do not declare as illicit what God and his prophet have declared as illicit, those who, among the peoples of the Book, do not practice the true religion. Fight them until they pay the tribute readily, having been humiliated." (Sura IX, verse 29) Or this: "Yes, those who say God is the Messiah, the son of Mary, are impious." (Sura V, verse 72)

Note: Those interested can read more about Sura IX, verse 29 at Jihad Watch.

Thus the journalists at La Croix are impious. Most of all, they are blind, refusing to see the reality of the Koran when they advocate an inter-religious dialogue as Michel Kubler does in his editorial:

"Yes, Christianity and Islam both claim to hold the ultimate truth. Rather than quarreling - vainly - over such a supremacy, they would do better to share their treasures of respective spirituality. The 'exchange of gifts' so often spoken of among Christians of diverse traditions, could then become a new horizon of dialogue between religions. Why could it not begin between Christians and Muslims (...)"

Let's not dwell on the "treasures of spirituality" of Islam. All they consist of is knowing what is halal (authorized) and what is haram (forbidden), nothing more. There is spirituality in Islam to the same degree that there is a Jewish woman under a burka!

As for inter-religious dialogue, it has no chance of starting for the simple reason that Muslims have absolutely nothing to do with it! This inter-religious dialogue is sought only by certain Catholics! For Muslims, Mohammed is the seal of the prophets and Islam is superior to all other religions because it was the last to have been revealed! For any Muslim, the world must quite naturally convert to Islam. And La Croix is off to a good start! At any rate, if there is a fast that the journalists of La Croix practice assiduously, it is that of courage! By not daring to confront the reality of Islam, they are making its bed. And Muslims will not hesitate to transform "La Croix" (cross) into "Le Croissant" (crescent).


I do not have access to the paper edition of La Croix, but at its online edition there is a page devoted to Ramadan and other events of interest to Muslims. You have your choice of articles, videos, audios, and slide shows. One of the articles describes Ramadan as having as its purpose the mastery of oneself and the exercise of one's personal will. We also learn that Muslims are being encouraged NOT to go to Saudi Arabia on the occasion of Ramadan, due to the risk of catching the H1N1 virus. And another article pledges solidarity with the Muslims of the city of Toul, where the mosque was recently damaged by graffiti. We learn from this article too that the bishop of Nancy has promised the Muslims that:

"the Christians of Toul will demonstrate their fraternal friendship to all members of the Muslim community as they enter the month of Ramadan by reaffirming their commitment to the inter-religious dialogue, so that love may be stronger than hatred."

An article from Le Salon Beige, dated September 2008, describes the Ramadan feast, beginning with a hearty soup of mutton, lentils, chick peas, garlic and onions. Followed by a "méchoui" (barbecue), then coucous with vegetables and a wide variety of pastries. However, I have heard that a glass of milk and some dates are what you are supposed to eat. It seems to be a variable - those out in the desert eat very little, those in France stuff themselves. The article, for readers of French, is followed by a long and often stormy discussion about whether or not Catholics should respect Islam.

Speaking of inter-religious dialogue, there's an article, in English, from the Indy Star, an Indianapolis publication, describing the inter-faith Ramadan feast to be held on August 30 in a synagogue! It seems a Turk named Bilal Eksili has earned a reputation as a generous host by inviting people into his home for meals, buying lunches, and hosting large groups of Hoosiers on tours of his native Turkey. So to show their gratitude, a local rabbi and two ministers of the United Methodist and Second Presbyterian churches have in turn invited Eksili and 60 other Muslims to a fast-breaking feast at the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation. The last part of the article would warm the hearts of the journalists of La Croix:

The Rev. Lewis Galloway, of Second Presbyterian, took the trip to Turkey with about 35 members of his congregation, and friendship bloomed with Eksili and other Turkish Muslims.

"It has helped us see that the vast majority of Muslim people are just like us in their love for God, their desire to raise their families and to live a peaceable life and to serve in their community," Galloway said.

Eksili, who holds American-Turkish dual citizenship, is convinced that the friendships forged over trips and shared meals are key to defusing the inevitable clash of civilizations that scholars and pundits predict between Muslims and the rest of the world.

"This gives energy. This gives hope," he said. "This brings people together."

Read the whole story here.

Barack Obama has also delivered his best wishes to the Muslims of the world. Read the full text at VFR and the comment that follows reminding us that the "President of the United States has no business addressing a religion in a speech."

Photo at top shows an Arab food store in Marseilles.

The Battle of Warsaw

The Western world, at least those who remember WWII, will be celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris on August 25, 1944. However, for many, this event is often overplayed in the media to the detriment of another event that took place in Warsaw, Poland at about the same time. This Polish insurrection, swept under the carpet by a media not eager to show the USSR in a bad light, reveals the true nature of the Soviet Union, the Soviet motives and methods, and the brutal betrayal by the Soviets of an expectant and hopeful Polish population, worn out by years of misery under Nazi occupation. The following editorial by Élisabeth G. Sledziewski of the University of Strasbourg, featured at Hérodote (registration may be required), is a striking reminder of an event the French have been "programmed" to forget:

After celebrating the 65th anniversary of D-Day, last June 6, this coming August 25 will see the colorful festivities commemorating liberated Paris.

It was quite a different tone in Warsaw on August 1 at 5:00 p.m. when the sirens blew to commemorate the start of the August-October 1944 insurrection against the Nazi occupier. They came, the last living participants in the uprising, sometimes at the invitation of the Polish government, to commemorate once again this tragedy, and they watched the city stand still and passers-by of all ages applaud them. After so many years, the old men wearing the red and white arm band that served as their uniform, relived "W Hour": that unreal moment when, poorly armed but determined to finish up with Hitler's executioners, they had launched an assault on objectives that would have allowed them, or so they thought, to take control of the capital as the Soviet troops approached. Had not the Resistance heard repeated appeals from Radio-Moscow urging their "brothers" to take up arms, promising the imminent support of the Red Army? Cruel trickery.

For a longtime the leaders of the Army of the Interior (AK) had been divided on the timeliness of an insurrection. Now they rallied to the optimistic plan to precede by several days the entry of the Russians... In short, to liberate Warsaw in the same way Paris would be liberated three weeks later. A crazy idea? No more than the one that Rol-Tanguy, de Gaulle and Leclerc had imposed on the Americans. Except for this: the life-saving reinforcements awaited by the Polish patriots were not old comrades-in-arms, as the U.S. soldiers were for the French, but an age-old enemy that had become an implacable adversary ever since the Soviet-Polish War in 1920, and a criminal conqueror since the invasion of Poland by the Red Army in September 1939, with the massive deportations of civilians and the murder of thousands of officers and Polish civil servants at Katyn in the spring of 1940.

How could the commander of the largest resistance force against the Third Reich have believed the admittedly vague protests of solidarity from such a partner? Was it Polish candor or a roll of the dice? What is certain is that after 58 months of Nazi terror, round-ups, deportations, hangings and daily executions, the first signs of a German defeat perceived at the end of July had given wings to the residents of the capital and to the leaders of the people's army in symbiosis with all strata of the nation.

The AK leaders believed that this politically favorable moment could be transformed into a militarily favorable victory for them. Their calculations proved to be disastrous. Momentarily destabilized, the Germans dispatched massive reinforcements while the Russians, having reached the other side of the Vistula, received orders to wait until the insurgents were annihilated. The aerodromes under Soviet control were even closed down to block any help from the West.

The SS held control of the outskirts of the city ("faubourgs"), engaging in reprisals that, in their horror, have rarely been equaled in human history: gathering civilians in cellars and setting them on fire, slitting throats or machine-gunning sick people and hospital personnel. From August 5 - 7, more than 50,000 inhabitants of the one neighborhood of Wola were massacred in this way. Beneath a rain of of fire, the insurgents held on heroically for 63 days. Certain bastions had still not surrendered when the order to capitulate was given on October 2. The members of the AK were led into captivity in Germany. As for civilians, holed up for two months in cellars, assailed by hunger, thirst and epidemics, they were removed manu militari (i.e., by force) and many of them were deported.

The final account of the Battle of Warsaw, between 220,000 and 250,000 dead in two months and 85% of the capital razed, is one of the worst of the Second World War. And yet, this tragedy has been erased from French memory, that retains from the period of the Nazi occupation only the martyrdom of the ghetto and the uprising of its survivors in April 1943.

One example: the famous film of Andrzej Wajda, Kanal (1957), telling the agony of an AK detachment forced to hide in the sewers, in September 1944, has recently been issued on DVD in a restored version. But the disc jacket explains that it is about the "uprising in the ghetto"! Didn't the August-October '44 insurrection ever exist? Or Stalin's betrayal? While in Poland the memory of the insurgent capital, censored by the Soviet-controlled Communist regime until 1989, has been honored ever since the return of democracy, one wonders why these events continue to be denied here in France.

Below, a photo of part of the Warsaw Uprising memorial, commemorating the August-October 1944 insurrection of the Polish people against the Nazis. This information accompanies the photo:

The Warsaw Uprising monument was unveiled on Krasinski Square, a site of fierce fighting, on August 1, 1989. It was designed by Professor Wincenty Kucma and architect Jacek Budyn and erected with donated funds. It consists of two groups of sculptures. This group depicts an attack by an insurgent unit.


This website features audios and written texts based on the radio documentary Red Runs the Vistula, produced by American RadioWorks and the BBC. This page provides a written transcript of the hour-long radio documentary. Here is a brief excerpt from the end of the program:

Slawinski: I think that the decision to go against all odds, maybe it wasn't the right one from the point of view that you had to make that sacrifice which was far too big, but this is in the nature of the Poles. Then they keep fighting losing battles. That was one of them.

Taborski: They had all been pumped by romantic poets who said that you can win by the sheer weight of your spirit.

Niedzielska-Kepinska: So many of my friends, so many of young people died. The best, the most patriotic, the most courageous, the most selfless, they died. Who will replace them?

Photo at top is one of many to be found at Poland at War website.

Final note: A Google of English-language websites on the Warsaw insurrection yields much information from a variety of sources. A similar Google in French also has a lot of references, but they seem to all be centered on a film by one Peter Batty. However, these two searches were hardly exhaustive.

The Churches of Massat

In the city of Massat, in the department of Ariège, there are three churches. The Communist mayor wants to take back one of them and transform it into an exhibition hall, but needs the approval of the bishop, Monsignor Mousset, who has refused, saying (through his spokesman Gilles Rieu):

"All religious buildings are reserved for religious purposes. The city cannot dispose of that which belongs to the religion. (...) However, we feel it could be used for some activity compatible with its mission. The chapel has not been converted to some other usage, and we cannot therefore open the breach (...)"

It turns out that the mayor has attempted to take back churches before. In 2005, he had tried to organize an exhibition in a chapel. The priest at that time, Bruno Gauthier, had opposed him and had obtained from the administrative tribunal of Toulouse a ban on the exhibition. Father Gauthier had declared:

"This church has not been assigned a new function, and must remain a place of worship. The tribunal judged as illegal the occupation of the church though the mayor had hoped to confront me with a fait accompli. You cannot do just anything you want..."

Reeling from his failure, the mayor had spoken of "the imbecility and the baseness of a certain Church." One more reason for supporting bishop Mousset in his decision not to allow the transformation of the church.

But the affair did not stop there. In a move that surprised everyone, the mayor decided to put the church up for auction on e-Bay.

The story goes on:

We have already spoken of the desire of the local bishop to preserve the Aisle Chapel, in the face of pressure from Léon-Pierre Galy-Gasparrou, the Communist mayor of Massat, who wants to transform the chapel into an exhibition hall.

On August 12, 2009, the city council of Massat unanimously requested that the function of the Aisle Chapel be changed, a request reiterated for the second time despite an initial refusal from the prefect on December 29, 2008 and the opposition of the Church authorities. The mayor's remarks are hysterical and hateful towards the Catholic Church:

"After a long discussion, we note the refusal of the bishopric to agree to the change in function of one of the three churches of the city, but this refusal is not motivated by any reasonable argument. The Aisle Chapel has been deserted for a long time by the Catholic community of Massat, and traditionally used for many cultural and civic activities. We deny the argument advanced, that says the transformation of the chapel would set a 'precedent', because ever since the law of 1905, 144 religious buildings have had their function changed. The Catholic community has at its disposal two large buildings that guarantee freedom to worship within the spirit and the letter of the republican principle of laïcité. Lacking an agreement that would allow us to begin work on this building, the city council has decided to sell this element of the public domain and has already asked the mayor to begin looking for a buyer. The church, assessed at 660,000 euro last April, will be placed on auction on the Internet.

"I am aware that beyond the problem of local politics, this concerns the application of laïcité... In this matter, there is a diktat of a particular point of view that is seeking to get the upper hand over other visions... this is a curious reminder of the de facto government of Vichy."

Readers of French can turn to this account in a local paper of Ariège, that describes the history of the city of Massat as one deeply marked by memories of World War II, and the Nazi occupation. This story of this one chapel is just another link in a longer chain of events that goes back many decades.

For some this is a church story that is reviving local passions and old quarrels harmful to the harmony of a village particularly marked by the occupation and the collaboration.

But it's more than a caricature of Peppone and Don Camillo. And no one is fooled: it is really the intellectual and political problem of the role of laïcité.

Note: In the 1951 film The Little World of Don Camillo, the priest played by Fernandel is at odds with the Communist mayor Peppone, but eventually the two are reconciled in their common cause of helping a young couple get married.

According to Guy Cirla, general secretary of the Laic Collective of Ariège: "The basic question that we should be asking is whether or not, at a time when the Catholic Church is unloading its heritage, and taking into account the financial crisis, is there not a disproportion in the number of buildings dedicated to religion in Massat? The 1905 law obligates even the most modest towns to maintain the churches, while the beneficiary ("affectataire"), in this case the Church, has all the power."

"These buildings often have a history that could be used for cultural and economic ends. If the 1905 law had been applied completely we wouldn't have this problem...

"At the time, Pius X and the government, under pressure, backed off: religious properties were ceded back to the Jews and the Protestants who had to maintain them, without any public funding... "

Note: He seems to be saying that if they had adhered to the law, the Catholic buildings would have also been ceded back to the Catholics who would have been obligated to maintain them without public assistance. What actually happened was that the entity (the State) that paid for the upkeep and the entity (the Church) that had total control over the buildings were two different entities.

It should be noted that the law of 1905 is not being observed today at all in the building of mosques, which, legally, should receive no public funds whatsoever.

The article, in a sidelight, presents a brief history of Massat, a city that seems at first insignificant, until you look a bit closer:

Massat, a village of 721 persons was, in the 19th century, one of the most important cities of Ariège, a department of 9,300 inhabitants in 1813. The wealth of the valley came from the manufacture of charcoal and from its five catalan forges. The progressivism of the working class population allowed a political dynasty to emerge, nourished by this republican terrain, and standing in real opposition to the local bourgeoisie. First, it was Léon Galy-Gasparrou (1850-1921), mayor of Massat, city councillor, defender of the 1905 law, then his son Georges Galy-Gasparrou (1896-1979), politician, and a judge removed from office for not having pledged himself to Pétain. He was, in 1936, one of the promoters of the Front Populaire (a Socialist movement) in Ariège before entering the government of Mendès-France. Finally, today we have Léon Galy-Gasparrou, mayor since 2001, who in the opinion of some, is keeping alive this continuity in local politics. He has been leading a crusade for the application of laïcité for several years, and so his village often finds itself in the spotlight.

So, it is historically a village of the Left. Today the mayor is a crusader for laïcité, which explains perhaps his perseverance in the matter of selling the Aisle Chapel - it is his personal cause. The Catholics, of course, have been feeling the oppressive consequences of the Revolution, and the 1905 law, and have no inclination to yield to his demands. The legality of putting a church up for auction on e-Bay has not been fully resolved. There is much discussion about this at all the Salon Beige articles linked above. They do not believe that the State owns the church, rather that the State stole church property in the confiscations of 1789 and 1905. They regard any attempt by the State to sell the church as "sale of stolen goods".

Who owns this church? Church? State? Local community?

A poll of Le Figaro readers reveals that out of 15,686 participants, 67.94% said they were "shocked" by the sale of a Catholic church on e-Bay, while 32.06% said they were not.

Note: Somebody must have done something because the church is no longer on sale at e-Bay (as of August 23, 6:30 a.m.)

An Insider's View of the FN

I have often felt that the Front National under Jean-Marie Le Pen was pro-Islam. This was not the original mission of the FN, of course, but as things evolved, as Le Pen became further and further removed from the wishes of his own party, he turned more and more to the group that his party was supposed to be opposed to, i.e., the Muslims. He (and his daughter Marine) also steered the party into more secular waters especially on those bioethical issues most crucial to Catholic voters. This may be "realpolitik" on his part or a betrayal of basic values. In any case these decisions did not win him any votes; au contraire, he lost more and more members and alienated more and more voters.

The following are excerpts from a long interview that took place before the EU elections on June 7 between an unnamed interviewer and former FN member Jeanne Dumont, who had just joined the breakaway Parti de France, headed by Carl Lang, who, himself, had recently split from the FN. The interview is hard to find on the web, and I had to rely on a Google cache:

- What are the causes of the decline of the FN?

- There are both external and internal causes.

The main external cause goes back to the presidential campaign of 2007, when Nicolas Sarkozy stole certain themes from the Front National to win over the FN voters. Therefore, we did not have the results that we had hoped for. That was followed by the fiasco in the legislative elections, which was very hard on the FN, because there was a psychological effect that demobilized the party workers and the electorate. Moreover, it was very hard on us financially, since 2/3 of the candidates did not receive 5% of the votes, and therefore were not reimbursed for their campaign costs. Finally, the system of financing the political parties is based on the results in the legislative election: each party receives a sum of money equivalent to 1.63 euro per vote received. So if you lose a million voters, you lose about 1.6 million euro per year...

The internal causes go back several years. There are reasons of substance and reasons of style, which are nonetheless closely tied. In terms of substance, there has been a certain weakening of the ideas of the Front National, a weakening of what I would call the foundations, among which are the defense of the family and in particular the fight against abortion. When Marine Le Pen is a guest on Radio Courtoisie, she does not say the same things that she says when she speaks on the major radio networks. Respect for human life is the alpha and the omega of good politics. Politics (...) is in the service of life.

Besides abortion, there is the fact that you can no longer speak of Islamization, or of a Christian identity... And yet, the Front National was the party that came closest to the Social Doctrine of the Church, and on certain points, this is no longer the case.

Note: The statement above is the first admission I know of from an insider that the FN does not accept the Islamization of France as a political issue. This does not mean that the FN is pro-immigration, only that it is not anti-Islam. Le Pen was always an immigration restrictionist, and he has always been reticent about criticizing Islam, a religion he seems to admire, although he has been known to denounce the illegal building of mosques. As for Christian identity, my own impression is that the FN espouses some Christian doctrines, but at the same time does not want to be associated in any way with the Church. The FN is essentially a republican, not a pre-revolutionary party. This again could be realpolitik. And yet so many FN members could not live with it.

For many people these ideas are accessories. But symbols do have their strength, and certain choices are not harmless. There was the decision to deliver a speech in Valmy to launch the presidential campaign. Valmy is a place highly symbolic of the Revolution. It was a volte-face when you compare it with Jean-Marie Le Pen's speech at Mont-Saint-Michel. Then there was the speech in Argenteuil (when Le Pen said to the immigrant residents): "You are branches of the tree of France, you are complete Frenchmen... For me you are neither "potes" (foreign pals), blacks or beurs (North Africans), you are French citizens", in his hope of gaining the Muslim immigrant population. Many voters took that as an act of betrayal.


There was also the famous poster (left) of the young North African girl. We don't complain about her being North African, of course, but it was her outfit, with the exposed navel, that gave a certain image of youth that is not the one traditionally upheld by the Front National! Moreover, they allowed Alain Soral into the party. After all he is a Marxist - he claims not to be but he is fundamentally informed by Marxism, and some of that affected the party's rhetoric. Yes, Soral has gone, but the damage has been done. And then there was this attempt to "undemonize" the FN, which proved to be a renunciation of the Front National's fundamental principles. In truth, we made Sarkozy's bed for him, and Sarkozy had no trouble winning over a large portion of our voters. As Martial Bild repeats: "When times are tough, there is no room for soft ideas."

Note: Bild was a major figure in the FN leadership.

She then describes the way Le Pen manipulated to have his daughter Marine (photo below) placed in the North voting district so that she would be the FN candidate in the EU elections instead of the natural choice of Carl Lang.


Gradually many FN leaders left in succession. What is regrettable is the violence of the language used against them and the baseness of the accusations hurled at them. Marine Le Pen would be much more credible when she calls others "profiteers" if she herself were willing to give up her wages as parliamentarian.

Jeanne Dumont then launches into a discussion of the new party formed by Carl Lang, le Parti de France, and her support for its founder and for his principles. She doesn't know if his party will survive, but she welcomes the opportunity to discuss issues openly once again:

We're going to have discussions again on the issues, something we longer had in the Front National. We organized our system of communication for the elections, but there was no open debate on ideas. After all, communication is something Sarkozy does also! When the only goal is an election and you no longer have open discussions on issues and ideas so that you know why you are fighting, I don't see why anyone would fight! Fight to get elected, of course, but get elected to do what?

She then discusses the EU elections that were set for June 7. Interestingly, she predicted that many would not come out to vote, a prediction that proved to be true. We know that 60% of the French people stayed home that day.

She ends on a generous note:

I want to say in conclusion that I do not renounce any part of the 21 years I spent in the Front National. I still acknowledge the tremendous qualities in Jean-Marie Le Pen that made him one of the great political men of his time. Furthermore, I had the great good fortune to work with people of quality, in an atmosphere of camaraderie and they still have all my esteem and my friendship. Life is long, and our political paths may cross again.

H/T: Le Salon Beige

A long discussion follows the post at Le Salon Beige.

Has He Lost Control?

Nicolas Sarkozy is proposing a tax on non-renewable energy sources, such as fuel and gas. Ivan Rioufol, writing at his blog at Le Figaro's website is concerned about the disconnect between the people and their president:

I fear that this government is further and further removed from the French people, and unwilling to hear what they have to say. The confusion of the middle class, in the throes of a general feeling of having been abandoned, is being ignored to such a degree that the government is actually considering more taxes on fuel, gasoline and other non-renewable sources of energy. At least that is the idea of Michel Rocard, engaged by Nicolas Sarkozy to examine the possibility of an energy tax. He is proposing notably to fix this new income tax in disguise at 7 centimes per liter of fuel. This would cost each household on average 160 euro annually. This would all be spiced up, in an effort to look balanced, by a convoluted financial redistribution in keeping with the philosophy of the former Socialist prime minister (Rocard) who has also been asked by Sarkozy to examine the possibility of a State loan, at a time when the country is already in debt... Are there not more urgent priorities?

To dare propose such taxation, when the president had committed himself not to increase taxes, when the buying power of French households is so precarious, says a great deal about the blindness triggered by adherence to any ideology. And ecology certainly is an ideology, one in fact that the majority appears to be adopting, although (we know that) these systems of automatic thought collapse all the time. To be convinced of what I'm saying, you have only to look at the Socialist Party, which is nonetheless still Sarkozy's frame of reference, since he claims he has not renounced his policy of openness. As society leans more and more to the Right, should the Right lean more and more to the Left? No. Decidely, something is rotten in the State of those who govern us. After making Sunday a workday, this possible energy tax is one more way of ignoring the everyday lives of people. What do you think?

Rioufol received 161 comments. A quick glance indicates that they agree with him (in spades!), and some quote Claude Reichman, a man I have not spoken of recently, but who was more in the news a while back. Founder of the Blue Revolution, a citizens' movement for economic and cultural reform along lines of more traditional and conservative values, Reichman said, in an article published at his website at the end of July:

The Two-Year-Curse has struck again. Like his true master and inspiration, Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy has just abdicated after two years in office.

Reichman then explains that Chirac lasted two years as prime minister under Giscard d'Estaing, then two more under Mitterand, then two more as president until Socialist Lionel Jospin became prime minister in 1997. He then only became re-elected with the support of the Left, in 2002, when Le Pen was so demonized that people felt they had to vote for Sarkozy - this included a large chunk of the Right, all the Left and everyone in-between. Reichman regards Sarkozy's sudden attack of shortness of breath (in July) as a metaphor:

Should the health crisis, apparently not life-threatening, that Nicolas Sarkozy has just endured be regarded as the decisive turning point in his career? Yes, and for the following reasons. Since he took office, he has conducted a breathless politic, with no concrete result. Perpetually in motion so as to occupy permanently the TV screens, he has ceaselessly confused communication with action.

Reichman says the situation in France has dramatically deteriorated recently from the combined effects of the long-term French crisis and the current world crisis.

Today, the financial, economic and social situation in France can no longer be controlled. Nicolas Sarkozy knows it. His inability to govern has become impotence and the situation is undermining him.

For a man whose dream it was to be president and to be the powerful figure that his origins and his constitution did not allow him to be naturally and who, after feverish, almost obsessional efforts for thirty years, finally attained his goal, to have to face the emptiness of all these sacrifices in a situation he can no longer dominate, could not help but to plunge him into a profound depression.

This psychological trauma and the need to escape from it led him to increase his physical activity in a most unreasonable way, running in the sun, in a state of extreme fatigue on July 26. A veritable suicide attempt from which he fortunately escaped, leaving the underlying causes intact, but which will inevitably be followed by one or more attempts.

There can be no doubt: Nicolas Sarkozy is suffering essentially from an ailment that is less the result of ambition than it is the result of the need for recognition as an important person. And that is where his fate will diverge from that of Jacques Chirac. Chirac was, in the end, quite content to conduct his mandate as a do-nothing king. Royalty alone was enough to satisfy the idea that he had of himself. His robustness and his legendary appetites attest to this with dazzling clarity.

No such thing with Nicolas Sarkozy. The timid little boy had a vital need to become a great chief, powerful and feared, but in no case a chief deprived of his attributes from a failure to be exalted and ceremonially honored. This is why, realizing that the dream abiding in the deepest part of his being will never come true, he tried to end a situation he could no longer tolerate. The days and the months that follow, for Nicolas Sarkozy as for everyone else, belong only to God, but as far as he is concerned personally, the Mass has been said.

Note: He means, I think, that the "die is cast". He is going out on a limb in his analysis of Sarkozy and the underlying causes of his shortness of breath that day, but it is not only a fascinating hypothesis, it also explains why, suddenly, Sarkozy asked Philippe de Villiers to join in with the UMP party. And it may also explain Villiers' reasons for accepting - he sensed the terrible weakness in Sarkozy, and realized that he could perhaps, step into the breach and help steer the Establishment Right into more traditional waters. Whether such a thing actually comes to pass is still unknown, and Sarkozy shows no sign of giving up his socialist policies, but all of this could, in the longer term, signal some degree of change. If Sarkozy has half a brain, he will become "open" to notions of sovereignty, to preventing Turkey's entry in the EU, to closing the French borders, and ultimately to a break with Brussels. If he wants a "legacy", he has to become a Frenchman. If he cannot, then Reichman is right - he will commit political (if not physical) suicide.

Finally, since we're on the topic of Sarkozy's financial plans, I'd like to share with you an entertaining e-mail I received from a reader who found this information at a German website and translated it into English. It concerns Sarkozy's personal expenses as president of the French Republic:

In the 300 square meters of the private quarters of Elysée Palace, the flowers must always be fresh. Cost per year: 280,000 euro. (see note at end)

When he travels privately, an empty airplane must accompany him, so that in urgent cases he can fly back to Paris.

At his disposal are 61 cars, 2 Airbus, 6 Falcon jets - the newest one cost 60 million euro and was named "Carla".

One million euro for drinks yearly.

Nearly 1000 employees (double the amount for the Queen of England), 44 chauffeurs, 87 cooks.

The chef's cooks can take whatever they ant from the wine cellar of Elysée; they have their lunch served to them.

Carla or Sarkozy can order food 'round the clock. The kitchen never closes...

Note: It certainly sounds extravagant, but I don't know how it compares with other countries. Does the White House have 87 cooks?

Source

Note: If you read German, you'll find (I think) that the article points out that there is not a word of protest from the French about these expenses (are they aware of them?) and that this is how it is in France where glamour (or glitter?) is so important. I do not know any German. I took some educated guesses. The comments also seemed derogatory, but again, I'm guessing. Please note that I did the translation of the first item above on the fresh flowers.

Note: After much digging, I found this tidbit about the White House kitchen staff. The conversation took place on the eve of the Governors' Ball Dinner, when student cooks were invited to do some of the meal preparation:

Q: Mrs. Obama, what is the typical size of the staff here? And does that vary, depending on the size of the event that is going on in the house?

MRS. OBAMA: Well, Cris, you probably have a better sense. There's the working staff in the kitchen, which, you know -- what's the --

MS. COMERFORD: It's about seven people, working staff, in the kitchen. We have two full-time pastry chefs. And of course during an event like this, we have a good support staff of like chefs from around here, from the Navy Mess, people that we've worked with before that are reputable, talented and really good.

MRS. OBAMA: So we do a bit of supplementing when it comes to the big events, but not all those people feed us every day. (Laughter.)

Source.