16August2025
Reconstitution "Sentier des otages"
Saturday, August 16 at 18:00 a.m.
Place Saint-François Village 83230 Bormes-les-Mimosas
“The Rise of the Hostages.” A memorial trail that retraces a date that could have remained that of a massacre. Fortunately, in Bormes-les-Mimosas, every August 17th, the liberation of the town is celebrated.
In the footsteps of the hostages:
18 p.m. Departure (departure location will be announced soon)
Welcome time and broadcast of a short report on this little-known episode of history
Departure on the path taken at the time:
2,7km / 40 min walk / 135m elevation gain
Convenient :
Parking is available on site and shuttles will operate to escort participants to their vehicles until 23 p.m.
Please note:
Members of the Mémoire Bormes 44 association will take part in this reconstruction
Important:
Remember to wear good shoes!
Hostages in Bormes?
On August 16, 1944, 180 Lavandou hostages (women, men, children, old people) arrived, under machine gun fire from the German occupiers, in the village of Bormes les Mimosas.
Their crime? Being in the wrong place at the wrong time... Suspected of harboring resistance fighters.
Taken to Place Gambetta, at the foot of the Kommandantur (Commandantur) located at the Grand Hôtel, these hostages were to be executed the following day. For their last night, they were placed with Bormese families, who were in turn threatened if the hostages escaped.
A night of anguish remembered by Claude, a hostage from Lavandou, then aged 8, and Ginette, a little girl from Bormes-les-Mimosas who took several hostages into her family.
18 p.m. Departure (departure location will be announced soon)
Welcome time and broadcast of a short report on this little-known episode of history
Departure on the path taken at the time:
2,7km / 40 min walk / 135m elevation gain
Convenient :
Parking is available on site and shuttles will operate to escort participants to their vehicles until 23 p.m.
Please note:
Members of the Mémoire Bormes 44 association will take part in this reconstruction
Important:
Remember to wear good shoes!
Hostages in Bormes?
On August 16, 1944, 180 Lavandou hostages (women, men, children, old people) arrived, under machine gun fire from the German occupiers, in the village of Bormes les Mimosas.
Their crime? Being in the wrong place at the wrong time... Suspected of harboring resistance fighters.
Taken to Place Gambetta, at the foot of the Kommandantur (Commandantur) located at the Grand Hôtel, these hostages were to be executed the following day. For their last night, they were placed with Bormese families, who were in turn threatened if the hostages escaped.
A night of anguish remembered by Claude, a hostage from Lavandou, then aged 8, and Ginette, a little girl from Bormes-les-Mimosas who took several hostages into her family.
Themes:
- History
All dates and times
| Opening hours on August 16, 2025 | |
|---|---|
| Open on Saturday | Opens at 18 p.m. |
