Mémorial de Poulguen, Memorial site in Penmarch, France.
The mémorial de Poulguen is a cautionary memorial located on the dunes of Penmarch. Granite stones display engraved names of those who lost their lives during World War II at this site.
A German military court sentenced 33 FTP resistance fighters to death on 21 April 1944, in response to an attack on Saint-Charles prison in Quimper on 9 April. A firing squad from the Guilvinec commandantur shot them in the Poulguen dunes the same day, though some sources say part of the group was executed in May. The bodies were buried on the spot in two pits; in June 1944 the Volant brothers were buried in a separate grave.
The gold inscription reads "AVX FVSILLÉS DE PENMARCH", an old-style spelling of "aux fusillés", honouring the shot of Penmarch. A carved wheat stalk divides the four columns of names, ages and home towns, and the last column lists "QUATRE ANONYMES" for the four who could not be identified. Since 2019, panels set slightly north-west of the wall by three retired local teachers explain the events of 1944.
The site sits on open dunes and is best visited during fair weather when ground conditions are stable. Visitors should prepare for exposed conditions and changeable seaside weather at all times.
The four bodies that could not be identified were exhumed and reburied on 31 August 1944, after the German troops withdrew. On the memorial they appear in the last of the four name columns under the words "QUATRE ANONYMES", between the second and third columns a carved stalk of wheat is set into the stone.
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