The Verdun Memorial honors fighters from around the world who took part in the 1916 battle. The exhibition “Worlds in Battle: Verdun 1916,” inaugurated 110 years after the conflict, offers an “innovative perspective” that goes beyond the traditional view of a Franco-German “paroxysmal” duel, according to Nicolas Barret, director of the Memorial.
The exhibition aims to “take a step back” and adopt a “global vision” of this battle, which “has been appropriated by a very nationalistic, if not nationalist, history,” explained the director. It showcases artifacts and watercolors by artist Timo Bechert depicting individual destinies.
The remains of Danish soldier Erik Petersen Skött, found near the Memorial four years ago, are a “quite rare” discovery. “There were a lot of Danes, Poles,” clarified Nicolas Barret. These soldiers fought “mostly in the German army, but also in the French army. There may have been fratricidal battles.”
Thousands of Belgian civilians or Russian prisoners also took part in the battle. The exhibition highlights the Senegalese riflemen in particular: around 200,000 fought during the Great War, including 4,000 at Verdun.
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