Together a war-memorial and a cemetery, these constructions, located at the
city’s North entrance, were erected in 1944-1945, thanks to donations and a
public subscription. Becoming a national necropolis in 1984, it gathers 78
graves and cenotaphs dedicated to resistant young men murdered by the Nazis in
repression against the resistance in Sologne :
- 41 students from Paris,
members of the "Liberté" and “Essor" resistant groups shot in the farm Le By (in
La Ferté-Saint-Aubin) and at the spot CERFBOIS (in Marcilly-en-Villette), on
June 10th1944.
- resistance fighters shot in the CHEVAU woods in La
Ferté-Saint-Aubin and in Lignyle-Ribault in autumn 1944.
- resistant deported
who died in Nazis deportation camps.
Ever since 1944, every year a moving
ceremony takes place in presence of the prefect, representatives of the groups
"Liberté" and "Essor", resistant members of the Maquis in Sologne, official
bodies and of a faithful audience. They celebrate the memory of these 78
fighters for freedom.
Then the ceremony is followed by an emotional
pilgrimage to the very spots of the exécutions.