10th MARCH 2012
Welles-Pérennes (Oise)
Tribute to Claire GIRARD
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En français 
On 10th March 2012, during a memorial ceremony held at Welles-Pérennes (Oise), a moving tribute was paid to Claire Girard, a 23 years old Resistance worker who was shot by the Germans on 27th August 1944 at Courdimanche (Val d' Oise).
Having met Claire Girard's sister, Mrs. Anise Postel-Vinay, she had expressed a desire to go to Welles-Pérennes to discover where her sister lived.
Mr. Bertrand Pamart, mayor of the village and his municipal council, immediately replied favourably to the proposal to organise a ceremony in memory of Claire Girard and in honour of the coming of her sister, a great lady of the Resistance.
Ms. Postel-Vinay was deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp after being arrested in August 1942 in Paris while she carried plans intended for the Allies.
Back from deportation, she married André Postel-Vinay, also a great man of the Resistance who, after being arrested by the Gestapo, managed to escape after terrible suffering by simulating madness. He was awarded the title of " Compagnon de la Liberation ".
A ceremony was held that morning by the municipality of Courdimanche in front of the memorials marking where Claire Girard and her companion had been murdered by the Germans.
Arriving at Welles-Pérennes in the early afternoon, we guided Mrs. Anise Postel-Vinay, members of her family, as well as a delegation from Courdimanche, towards the farmhouse managed by Claire Girard. Despite some new buildings, the farm is remained virtually unchanged since 1944. Claire Girard did not live at the farm. We then visited the house where she stayed in the heart of the village.
Then came the official ceremony at the war memorial of the village where the name Claire Girard is inscribed. In the presence of elected officials of the area, veterans and villagers, Mr Pamart remembered the fate of this exceptional young woman. Two young college students of St. Apolline High School of Courdimanche which participates annually in the Concours National de la Resistance et de la Deportation, read with great intensity excerpts from "Lettres de Claire Girard" and a poem by Louis Aragon, before the laying of wreaths in front of the monument.
After the ceremony, the celebratory drink awaited all the participants at the community hall where an exhibition retraced the short life of Claire Girard, allowing the population to be better informed about this young Parisian who had arrived one day in the winter of 1943 in their village.
It was a day of great emotion for all of us and especially for Mrs. Anise Postel-Vinay who was able to meet some people from the village who remembered her sister. She told us she had often to retain her tears throughout the day.
A duty of remembrance, particularly necessary vis-à-vis the younger generation, so that the sacrifice of this young woman, like many others, was not in vain.
