Moselle: wind turbines on the former Ban-Saint-Jean prison camp?
France Bleu|Elodie Rabelle |December 4, 2020
In Ban-Saint-Jean, in the town of Denting, a wind project has provoked the ire of the population. The place, a former prison camp where thousands of Russians and Ukrainians perished during World War II, could now be the home of wind turbines but the project is very far from being completed.
After the war, we find 23,000 bodies at Ban Saint-Jean, Russians and Ukrainians who died on the spot, in forced labor. This place is the largest Nazi death row in France.
In 2012, a monument was erected on the site to never forget. The site has belonged to the town hall of Denting since 2000 when it was sold for a symbolic euro.
The mayor now wants to exploit the approximately 100 hectares by creating a wind farm.
What you have to understand is …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]In Ban-Saint-Jean, in the town of Denting, a wind project has provoked the ire of the population. The place, a former prison camp where thousands of Russians and Ukrainians perished during World War II, could now be the home of wind turbines but the project is very far from being completed.
After the war, we find 23,000 bodies at Ban Saint-Jean, Russians and Ukrainians who died on the spot, in forced labor. This place is the largest Nazi death row in France.
In 2012, a monument was erected on the site to never forget. The site has belonged to the town hall of Denting since 2000 when it was sold for a symbolic euro.
The mayor now wants to exploit the approximately 100 hectares by creating a wind farm.
What you have to understand is that this project is far, far from being completed. Already in 2018, the file included eight wind turbines, then faced with the refusal, the number of turbines was reduced to six. Now, three wind turbines are proposed.
So, before seeing wind turbines on this land, there is still some way to go. The area is classified as an archaeological site, so if the project is approved, there will be impact and feasibility studies as well as excavations to be sure common graves are not disturbed. The LREM deputy for Moselle, Hélène Zannier, estimates that there is still a year at least before a decision is made..
Zannier met Thursday with Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq and the Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Armed Forces, in charge of Memory and Veterans, to find a way to reconcile the duty of memory, and economic and energy issues.
The deputy hopes to find a compromise between the associations opposed to the project and the town hall.