PAEZ Posted June 19, 2000 Share Posted June 19, 2000 PARIS (AP) - Sixty years after Gen. Charles de Gaulle called on his countrymen to resist Nazi occupiers in France, a new museum that serves as a tribute to the voice behind the Resistance was inaugurated on Sunday. The museum ``fills an empty space in our army museum,'' said President Jacques Chirac at the ceremony at Les Invalides, site of a military museum and Napoleon's tomb. The museum - which opens to the public July 1 - brings to life some of the bravest and basest moments of World War II. Photos of Jews being bundled into buses by French police bound for deportation and recordings of coded messages broadcast to Resistance fighters are among the 1,055 objects and documents on display. Cannons, gas masks, maps and ration coupons are also on display. ``It was my duty as president, armed forces chief, to ensure that this period is represented,'' Chirac said. The inauguration came on the 60th anniversary of de Gaulle's radio broadcast from London calling for the French to resist the occupying Nazis. The call gave birth to the clandestine network of French Resistance fighters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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