The Jean Vérines Memorial, Paris
1. The Jean Vérines Memorial Tablet, Paris
Outside the Republican Guard barracks.
[12, Place de la République, Paris]
Outside the Republican Guard barracks.
[12, Place de la République, Paris]
2. The Jean Vérines Memorial (detail)
3. Statue of 'Marianne' by the Morice Brothers
Marianne is the personification of the French Republic
[Place de la République, Paris]
For additional information click on 'Comments' below. Marianne is the personification of the French Republic
[Place de la République, Paris]
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posted by ritsonvaljos at 10:13 pm
2 Comments:
Additional information
Introduction
Lieutenant-Colonel Jean Vérines (1894 - 1943) was commandant of the 3rd Battalion of the Republican Guard at Paris. In August 1940, a few weeks after the Germans occupied Paris Jean Vérines joined the "St James" network (in French, the Réseau "Saint-Jacques") which was founded by Maurice Duclos, an emissary of Charles de Gaulle.
The "St James" network was effective for about a year but by August 1941 the Germans began breaking it up. Jean Vérines was arrested on 10 October 1941 at the Republican Guard barracks originally known as the 'Prince Eugène'. Initially imprisoned at the notorious prison at Fresnes, Jean Vérines was subsequently deported to Germany. After two years of imprisonment, he was sentenced to death and shot at Cologne on 20 October 1943.
After the war, in 1947, the Republican Guard barracks were re-named the Vérines barracks in his honour and he was posthumously prooted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. A memorial tablet was unveild in his memory, which can still be found adjacent to the entrance [Photograph No. 1]. A more detailed view of the memorial tablet can be seen in Photograph No. 2.
If Jean Vérines and members of the Republican Guard needed any inspiration to oppose the Germans it was outside the front entrance of the barracks. This is the Place de la République with the statue of Marianne, the personification of the French Republic, as its centrepiece [Photograph No. 3].
Marianne stands on a massive pedestal with three seated figures, represemting the three French Republican symbols of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. Marianne wears the Republican phrygian cap, the symbol of Liberty, with an olive branch in her right hand and the Book of the Rights of Man in her laft hand and a sword attached to a belt over her shoulder.
After the war (1947 - 48) Jean Vérines was made also made patron of the Gendarme Officers' School at Melun. At the headquarters of the Republican Guard, in the Hall of Traditions of the Cavalry Regiment, a special room was also dedicated to his life, his work and his sacrifice.
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The Jean Vérines Memorial Tablet
In French, the Jean Vérines Memorial Tablet outside the Vérines barracks of the Republican Guard at the Place de la République [Photograph No. 2] reads as follows:
« À la Mémoire du
Lt. Col.
VERINES, Jean
Ancien Commandant du 3e Bataillon
de la Garde Républicaine de Paris
Chef du Réseau de Résistance
Arrêté ici en 1941. Déporté en Allemagne
Fusillé à COLOGNE le 20.10. 1943 ».
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In English, this can be translated as follows:
"To the Memory of
Lt. Col.
Jean VERINES
Former Commanding Officer of the 3rd Battalion
of the Parisian Republican Guard
Head of the Resistance Network.
Arrested here in 1941. Deported to Germany
Shot at Cologne on 20.10.1943
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