Tata of Chasselay (french: Tata sénégalais de Chasselay, links=no) is a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

in the city of Chasselay, Rhône including almost 200 graves of

Senegalese Tirailleurs The Senegalese Tirailleurs (french: Tirailleurs Sénégalais) were a corps of colonial infantry in the French Army. They were initially recruited from Senegal, French West Africa and subsequently throughout Western, Central and Eastern Africa: t ...

murdered during the Chasselay massacre of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

History

From 19 to 20 June 1940, French troops delayed the entry of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

forces into

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

, which had been declared an "

open city In war, an open city is a settlement which has announced it has abandoned all defensive efforts, generally in the event of the imminent capture of the city to avoid destruction. Once a city has declared itself open the opposing military will be ...

" on 18 June. Earlier on 17 June, French troops occupied Chasselay, a village roughly fifteen kilometres north-west of Lyon. Soldiers from the 405th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment, 25th Senegalese Tirailleurs Regiment and the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

erected barricades in the village with the help of local civilians. Having encountered little resistance during the capture of

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

, German troops arrived on June 19, near

Lissieu Lissieu () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. See also *Communes of the Metropolis of Lyon The following is a list of the 59 communes of the Lyon Metropolis, France France () ...

. However, the Germans met with strong resistance from the defenders of Chasselay, resulting in 50 troops killed overall along with one French civilian; more than 40 German soldiers were wounded. When the 25th Regiment surrendered, they were taken to a nearby field. The white officers were led aside and told to lie face down. Then, the Black soldiers were then ordered to assemble in front of two German

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...

s and told to run away. As they ran, the tanks opened fire on the soldiers with machine guns, and then drove over the dead and wounded. A German soldier then walked over to one of the white French officers and shot and wounded him; but otherwise they were left unharmed. German officers specifically ordered French civilians living nearby not to bury the murdered soldiers, but instead to let them rot in the open. However, the civilians, who also sheltered a handful of Black soldiers who managed to escape, buried the bodies in a

mass grave A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human corpses, which may or may not be identified prior to burial. The United Nations has defined a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims of execution, although an exact ...

overnight. After the armistice, Chasselay was controlled by

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its te ...

. Accordingly, it was not subject to the general rule in occupied France that no memorial might be erected to black soldiers. Jean Marchiani, who held the position of General Secretary of the Departmental Office of disabled ex-servicemen, veterans and victims of war heard about the massacre. He decided to bring together the bodies of the African soldiers, some of whom were buried in local cemeteries while others were often simply left to lay in ditches in the middle of the countryside. After identifying the villages where bodies were buried, Jean Marchiani bought a plot of land in Chasselay, near the locality of Vide-Sac where roughly 50 Black prisoners were shot by the Germans, and raised funds for the erection of the cemetery. He was backed by General Doyen, former commander of the Army of the Alps, and Deputy of Senegal Calendou Diouf. The inauguration took place on 8 November 1942, three days before the invasion of the unoccupied zone by the Germans.

Description

The building, entirely

red ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

, consists of tombstones surrounded by a rectangular enclosure 2.8 metres high. Its porch and its four corners are surmounted by pyramids covered with piles. The solid oak clerestory gate is decorated with eight African masks. Dirt from Dakar has been brought by plane, to mix it with French soil.

Gallery

Tata sénégalais de Chasselay (2016) - Entrée.jpg Tata sénégalais de Chasselay.JPG Tata sénégalais de Chasselay.jpg

References

Cemeteries in France 1942 establishments in France Chasselay, Rhône World War II cemeteries in France Senegalese culture France–Senegal relations {{France-cemetery-stub