Saint-Sixte (memorial)

Historical background

On June 23, 1944, in the meadow down the hill from the church in Saint-Sixte in the department of Lot-et-Garonne, the Germans shot 14 Gypsies who stopped here on their way to the market in Valence-d’Agen. Among the victims there were 6 children: from 2 months to 14 years old.

Description of commemoration

The memorial place is separated from the neighbouring area by stone walkway and a path paved with stones that leads to it, separated from the road by two posts with a chain between them. The memorial includes a white stone with three stainless steel plaques with inscriptions in French and it is located on the left, on the stone pavement, next to the fence of the new part of the cemetery. The plaque in the middle contains the list of the names of the victims of the German crime.

On the right there is a figural monument depicting a father and his daughter. The stainless steel from which the statues are made symbolises the durability of memory. The male figure is 1.88 m tall. It depicts a man wearing a travel outfit with a waistcoat and a short cape on his shoulders. Spring-shaped hair protrude from under his hat. It is worth noting his eyes and moustache. With his left arm he embraces a girl, his daughter, whose statue nearly reaches to his shoulder. The girl is dressed in a jacket with two rows of buttons, and a below-the-knee skirt. The girl has long, wavy hair. Attention to detail can be seen in the rendering of both statues. Both figures are signed by the artist – a man on his chest has a riveted round medallion with the inscription “2016 Carvalho”, the girl has a belt buckle with the engraved inscription “S. Carvalho 2016 “.

The memorial also includes a wagon wheel, standing in the corner, behind human figures.

This is the first French figural monument dedicated to the Extermination of the Roma.

Inscriptions

In French:

À la memoire des 14 Tsiganes / victimes de la barbarie nazie

Translation:

In memory of 14 Gypsies, victims of Nazi barbarism.

Voici la liste de ces personnes qui reposent dans le cimetière parossial de Saint-Sixte // (nazwiska) // Ce massacre a été perpétré le 23 juin 1944 au matin, par la Division Das Reich, / faisant sur son passage œuvre de mort

Translation:

Here is a list of those who were buried at the parish cemetery in Saint-Sixte [names follow …]. This massacre was carried out on the morning of June 23, 1944 by the Das Reich division, which brought death wherever it appeared.

Ce Mémorial, érigé à l’initiative de l’Union Française des Associations Tsiganes (UFAT), / a reçu le soutien de : la Direction de la Mémoire, du Patrimoine et des Archives, la Fondation pour / la Mémoire de la Shoah, la Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Déportation, le Conseil Départemental de / Lot-et-Garonne, les Mairies de Saint-Sixte et Dunes, de Lucette Lousteau et Valérie Rabault, députées.

Translation:

This monument was erected thanks to the initiative of the French Union of Gypsy Societies with the support of: Department of Remembrance, Heritage and Archives, Shoah Memorial Foundation, Deportation Remembrance Foundation, Lot-et-Garonne Department Council, Mayors of Saint-Sixte and Dunes, and the deputies Lucette Lousteau and Valérie Rabault .