Once Europe's Killing Fields, Verdun Now Hosts a New Museum for Peace

VERDUN, France -- As the site of one of the bloodiest battles of World War One, this otherwise picturesque town in the Meuse Valley has long been associated with the horrors of war.

More than 500,000 soldiers on both sides died in the first half of 1916 as French forces successfully resisted a massive German offensive against strategic fortifications here. The town itself was reduced to rubble in a series of bombardments.

Now wholly rebuilt and restored, the present day Verdun is rapidly emerging as a major European symbol of peace and progress.

In 1984, it was host to a reaffirmation of the peace efforts of the French and German Governments, displayed in a handclasp between German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and French President François Mitterand, as they stood side by side in the immense military cemetery here.


The Palais Episcopal in Verdun, which now houses the nearly completed World Center for Peace, Freedom and Human Rights.

The latest manifestation of such efforts is scheduled to come on 1 July, when the new World Center for Peace, Freedom and Human Rights is inaugurated.

Housed in the Palais Episcopal, the bishop's former residence near the town's historic tenth century cathedral, the Center will comprise a peace museum, a center for cultural and scientific research, a documents archives, and an international conference site. It will also offer workshops and classes on peace for youth.

"What makes the creation of the Center especially significant first of all, of course, is it geographic location," said Kazem Samandari, a member of the national governing council of the Bahá'í community of France, which has been collaborating with the Center's founders since 1989, the year after the project was founded.

"There are scores of museums around the world dedicated to the remembrance of war; this Center is one of the few dedicated to the promotion of peace. In a world in which there are currently some two dozen wars ongoing," Mr. Samandari added, "it offers a powerful symbol of the potential for understanding between peoples, in that today the enemies that fought in two successive world wars are united in a European Community."

An International Crossroads

Financed primarily by governmental sources at the national, regional and local level in France, but also with contributions from the European Fund for Regional Economic Development and private sources, the Center has been built and outfitted at a cost of more than 90 million French francs (US$ 16 million).

It aims to become "an international crossroads, an area for exchanges and a symbolic and prophetic spot, announcing peace to all the peoples of the world," according to the Museum's brochure.

In this effort, the Center plans to collaborate with countries around the world to create a permanent collection showing humanity's efforts and progress toward peace throughout history. On the Palais' ground floor, there will be seven monoliths, each equipped with an audio-visual system, to depict various aspects of peace-making.

For its part, the Bahá'í community will donate a model of the Bahá'í House of Worship in India. Inaugurated in 1986, the House of Worship has won praise from around the world for its bold and inspiring architecture.

Inspired by the lotus flower, it has nine sides and nine doors, making it possible to enter from any direction, and thus symbolizing the unity of all peoples and all religions.

Madam Rúhíyyih Rabbání, a leading dignitary in the Bahá'í community, is among the first 50 international religious, cultural and political figures to co-sponsor the Center's creation. The Patronage Committee also includes Sadruddin Aga Khan; economist John Kenneth Galbraith; Czech President Vaclav Havel; former British Prime Minister Edward Heath; Oumar Konare, the president of Mali; and a number of Nobel Laureates, including Hélène Ahrweiler, Jean Dausset, Gérard Debreu, Mairead Maguire and Peace Prize winners Rigoberta Menchu and Elie Wiesel.

The ultimate aim of the Center is to stimulate fresh thinking about how to promote peace, according to its director, Denis Maréchal. The archives for documents will bring together papers from the European Council, the United Nations, various human rights associations, and humanitarian agencies. Those documents will be open to researchers and used in special "peace classes" for youth.

"The classes will prepare the youth to think about peace, teaching them to think differently," said Mr. Maréchal. "For example, we are organizing films on war and peace for the documentation center that is being set up. And we find that there are many films available about war, yet few about peace. We are putting the emphasis on peace." -- By Jessica Dacey


OneCountry (e-mail: 1Country@BIC.Org) | Contents | 1994 Issues