France: D-Day Tribute or Theme Park? Battle Rages Over Normandy Plan

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Mon Aug 29, 2022, 04:16 AM - Edit history (1)

- FRANCE. 'D-day tribute or theme park? Battle rages over Normandy plan.' The Guardian, Aug. 29, 2022.

- Critics say €90m project would reduce allied landing to a money-spinning tourist attraction. A row has erupted in France over plans for a new D-day attraction near the landing beaches, which critics have likened to a Disney-style theme park. -

The multimillion-euro project to retell the story of le débarquement of 6 June 1944 and the subsequent Battle of Normandy in a hi-tech 45-minute “immersive show” has sparked a furious war of words, with opponents describing it as disrespectful to those who died and their families. On one side are promoters of the €90m Hommage aux Héros (Tribute to the Heroes) project, who insist it will be a historically accurate and appropriate tribute. On the other, angry locals and veterans’ families have nicknamed the project “D-day Land”, accusing the businesspeople behind it of reducing one of the bloodiest events in European history to a money-spinning tourist attraction.

“They talk creating the ‘wow factor’ of a ‘sensational show’ that will take place near the beaches & cemeteries of Normandy, which seems fundamentally immoral & indecent,” Bertrand Legendre, a former Sorbonne professor & novelist who is leading resistance to the plans, told the Guardian. “The ethical principle of this commercialisation of history is extremely shocking.” Régis Lefebvre, one of the people behind the project, disagrees. “We want transmit the story of what happened with great historical rigour using today’s technology to make it interesting to the largest number of people. It’s a simple as that,” he said.

"It’s not a theme park and we never called it D-day Land. That’s the name our opponents used. As for making money, who seriously sets up a business to lose money? In England you understand that.”

A public planning consultation is running until 7 October. If the attraction is approved, it will be built on a 75-acre site at Carentan-les-Marais, inland from the American landing beaches Utah and Omaha (the British offensive centred on Sword and Gold beaches, and the Canadians came ashore at Juno beach). Its backers hope it will open in 2025 and attract 600,000 visitors a year, paying up to €28 for tickets.
Legendre has a petition with 700 names of people opposed to the plan, including historians and relatives of Normandy veterans.

We the children, grandchildren and loved ones of the American, British and Canadian soldiers who faced the enemy fire wish to register our firm opposition to the envisaged Hommage aux Héros theme park,” it reads. “We are appalled that their memory should be treated as a tourist attraction … the eagerness of the promoters for a ‘wow factor’ is absolutely objectionable. “Make no mistake. The passing on of memories is see here as no more than a business opportunity … to give this project the go-ahead would demean and devalue pain and sacrifice....

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/29/d-day-tribute-or-theme-park-battle-rages-over-normandy-plan
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*' 9 Yr Old Haywood County Boy, Follower of WW2 History to Make Trip of Lifetime to London- Normandy Through Nonprofit,' 8.26.22.

https://wlos.com/news/local/haywood-county-boy-passionate-world-war-2-ww2-history-trip-of-lifetime-nonprofit-london-normandy-beach-d-day-fundraiser-operation-meatball

[LisaM]

1. How awful.

I so hope this doesn't happen. I would like to visit Normandy and the intense quiet where there was so much violence is part of the appeal.

[appalachiablue]

2. Agree, the proposal reeks of commercialization, hope it fails. I loved the trip

I took to the hallowed beaches and environs of Normandy.. As a young officer my father landed there from Britain 6 months after D-Day to fight in the Rhineland Campaign.

[irisblue]

3. "They talk creating the 'wow factor' of a 'sensational show' ..."

So the proposal for the "wow" factor include shellings, climbing cliffs, Czech hedgehogs in the bloody surf with the bodies of retail company owners bobbing up and down?

[appalachiablue]

5. Yes, "wow." The D-Day site can't be reduced to a screen show attraction,

It is the location of the largest amphibious landing in history on the beaches of Normandy, France along the English Channel.

Nothing equals visiting the area where the Allledl iberating forces landed and fought so bravely on June 6, 1944 and in the weeks following to establish a base to free France and much of Europe under Nazi control for 5 years.

Visitors to the area can learn about the historic event from many local war memorials and tributes, museum displays with original war artifacts and expert educational tours offered at the site.

During the landing, thousands of troops from the US, Britain and Canada who fought their way trom the ships to the beaches were injured and slaughtered by the local German defenders. 'Operation Overlord,' the key Allied Invasion of northern F.rance was carefully planned for months and fhe fighting afterwords led to Germany's final defeat in May 1945, thank God.

Adding a high tech business venture and commercial show would diemean the dignity of the site and crush the existing authentic interpretive features and programs - no way, no how.

[Doc Sportello]

4. The best thing about visiting historical sites in Europe is that they are not over commercialized

You don't have billboards and theme parks and while there my be a few stores selling kitsch they are limited. Normandy is one of the last places on my bucket list to travel to. Europe is a special place to visit because it is not like America in its treatment of its history and culture. Please don't become like us.

[appalachiablue]

6. Amen, you said it all!