Memorial to WWII PoW defaced

Kyt · Jan 15, 2008

This really is disgraceful.

Memorial to WWII PoW defaced

A controversial memorial to a Canadian murdered by a mob of German civilians during the Second World War has been plastered over with Nazi posters.

The much-debated memorial to Pilot Officer Jean-Maurice Joseph D'Avril of 425 Squadron of Bomber Command is located in Frankenberg on the site where the Montreal wireless operator and air gunner, a prisoner of war at the time, was attacked by a group of German civilians and clubbed to death as he was marched through the town.

"Here, the Canadian prisoner of war, RCAF P/O Jean-Maurice D'Avril (22) was cowardly beaten to death in March 1945," a plaque says in English, French and German. "We mourn him and all victims of war."

The memorial was erected largely through the efforts of Peter Hessel, a German-born author and translator who spent part of the war as a child in Frankenberg. Hessel raised the funds for the memorial largely through the Royal Canadian Legion and some private donors in Canada and Germany.

As well, in 2005 Hessel produced a book, titled The Mystery of Frankenberg's Canadian Airman, publicly naming D'Avril for the first time as the murdered Canadian.

In a telephone interview, Hessel, in Germany doing research, said he was notified by friends in Frankenberg that the D'Avril memorial had been defaced with posters showing images of Nazi soldiers and containing slogans which Hessel translated as: Honour those who deserve it and In memory of German war dead.

The defacement was blamed on the National Socialist Party of Chemnitz, an industrial city near Frankenberg that was greatly damaged by Canadian bombers during the Second World War. Chemnitz is located in the state of Saxony, where the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party, known by its German initials NPD, won more than nine per cent of the popular vote in the last election for the state parliament. The NPD continues to enjoy a high profile and generate considerable news.

Mr. Hessel is distressed at the profile of these neo-Nazis and the desecration of the memorial: "It's really a shame."

The memorial has been controversial since the beginning, in large part, says Mr. Hessel, because the dead Canadian is seen as "the enemy." Mere hours before the D'Avril murder, bombers from Canada and other countries had killed 2,105 civilians in Chemnitz. Ninety Canadian members of Bomber Command were also killed. While en route to bomb Chemnitz, Pilot Officer D'Avril was ordered to parachute from his Halifax III bomber numbered PN-173. On the ground, he was captured, detained as a prisoner of war and soon clubbed to death.

Initially, the owners of the property where the slaying occurred refused to allow Mr. Hessel and his supporters to erect the memorial there. It was placed on a property just across the street. A ceremony was held March 6, 2005, and was attended by members of the D'Avril family. These relatives even had an opportunity to meet witnesses to the killing.

The plaque was meant to symbolize a reconciliation between two countries that once were enemies. But not everyone was pleased. Shortly afterward, the plaque was removed by the owner of the property. It was installed again, last March, and put on the spot where it was originally supposed to be.

Mr. Hessel said yesterday he discussed the desecration of the plaque with the editor of the newspaper in Frankenberg and was told the publication did not want to report the story "to avoid giving the Nazis more press." The editor believed the desecration was a propaganda stunt designed to help the NPD in state elections scheduled for June.

Bomber Command's wartime activities have been the subject of great controversy at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. An exhibit there riled some Canadian veterans. They felt they were being described as "war criminals" who wantonly killed German civilians. After much turmoil and debate at the museum and even in Parliament, an agreement was reached to rephrase the exhibit's text panel.

"I can't help but draw a parallel between this little plaque in a little town in Germany and the controversial panel in the Canadian War Museum," Mr. Hessel wrote in an e-mail to the Citizen. "Both involved the bombing campaign against German cities. Both caused people to reflect on the wisdom of indiscriminate bombing of civilian populations. Both involved Canadian veterans -- dead and alive. However, the manner in which the Canadian controversy was debated and finally solved differed greatly from the way in which the little brass plaque in Germany was attacked."
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Kyt · Jan 15, 2008

Name: D'AVRIL, HENRI JEAN MAURICE JOSEPH
Initials: H J M J
Nationality: Canadian
Rank: Pilot Officer (W.Op./Air Gnr.)
Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force
Unit Text: 425 Sqdn.
Age: 22
Date of Death: 05/03/1945
Service No: J/93925
Additional information: Son of Henri and Cecelia D'Avril, of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: 13. C. 7.
Cemetery: BERLIN 1939-1945 WAR CEMETERY

Halifax PN173 5/6 March 1945 lost on mission to Chemnitz

F/O J J A L Desbiens RCAF KIA
Sgt A E Minquet RCAF KIA
F/S G E J Tremblay RCAF Inj
F/O J A Parent RCAF Inj
F/S H J M D'Avril RCAF KIA
F/S G L J Langeum RCAF Inj
F/S L P Lamontagne RCAF Inj

March 1945 Daily Operations
and picture of crew:
425 Crew

A book was written of this case:

Allied Museum: RETROSPECTIVE
Amazon.com: The Mystery of Frankenberg's Canadian Airman: Books: Peter D. K. Hessel

spidge · Jan 15, 2008

Kyt said: ↑

This really is disgraceful.

Memorial to WWII PoW defaced
Click to expand...

There will always be a correlating reason why it was done. There will also be some political basis if you read between the lines of the report.

Kyt · Jan 15, 2008

Considering the number of votes that the neo-nazi party received you are probably right Spidge. Though one hesitates to use the word "political" in context to a bunch of morons like that.

(BTW sorry, I just noticed that I only posted half the article. It's been updated now)

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