Making A Distinction Between The Average Soldier And His Leaders

On the 70th anniversary of D-Day, Chantel Sion reflects on the days when German soldiers occupied her family’s Normandy home.

By Devin Leith-Yessian

Driving through the quiet farms and villages that once hosted one of the most intense battles in history, Chantel (Lepetit) Sion reflected on the days when German soldiers occupied her family’s Normandy home. Despite being only being two years old when her village was liberated, her family has kept the memory of those times alive.

In the midst of the war, German soldiers took control of Sion’s expansive home and forced the family, a total of seven people, to live in a single room. This was a regular occurrence in homes across France and, according to Sion, every home in her village had a similar story, with the buildings being used to house the German soldiers and their equipment.

Despite the autocratic control Germany imposed on France, Sion said that daily life didn’t change dramatically during the occupation. For example, her brothers would wake up and walk themselves to school most days, passing German soldiers inside and outside their home. “Everything [was] almost normal,” Sion said.

Over two and a half months after D-day, the British 51st “Highland” Division fought their way to Sion’s village liberating it on August 25th. During the battle they had assistance from other British divisions and Canadian troops. They then quickly moved on to liberate the village Ecajeul.

Sion said that many French don’t blame the German soldiers who took their lands so many years ago. They instead place it on the Nazi party, creating a clear distinction between the average soldier and their leaders who ordered the SS to create death camps and other atrocities. In the eyes of many French, those foot soldiers were often just ordinary people who were called upon to fight for their country, as misguided as it was.

Today many of these villages are littered with memorials to the battles that took place there and the soldiers who gave their lives to liberate people they had never met. Despite the passage of time and the toll of foreign wars the people of Normandy are adamant about never forgetting what happened in their homes and those of their neighbors 70 years ago.