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Origin and history

The Decazeville Memorial to the Dead, located in Wilson Square in front of Notre Dame Church, is a tribute to the soldiers of the commune who fell during the 20th century conflicts, as well as to the miners who were victims of industrial accidents. It is distinguished by its dual symbolism, mixing military and industrial memory. Central obelisk, of Chauvigny stone, is surmounted by a lantern of bronze miners, while bas-reliefs represent War, Peace, a dead soldier and a minor trapped by a shot of fire. The monument, without engraved names, is intended to be universal, evoking both the sacrifices of the Great War and the risks associated with local mining.

The construction of the monument was decided in the early 1920s, with plans drawn up by the architect Émile Pouch and a construction entrusted to the entrepreneur André Fontalba for a cost of 108 705 francs. Tensions between the two men temporarily interrupted the construction site, requiring municipal intervention to complete the work. In 1934, sculptor André Léon Galtié, winner of a competition, realized the bronze elements for 44,460 francs. The monument was finally inaugurated on December 9, 1934 in the presence of local and national personalities, including Senator Paul Boncour and MP-Mayor Paul Ramadier, during a solemn ceremony including Mass, speech and banquet.

Ranked a historic monument since October 18, 2018, this monument is one of the 42 monuments to the dead of the Occitanie region protected for their artistic and historical value. Its original location, chosen after the abandonment of a project near Cabrol Square, replaces a music kiosk on Wilson Square. Funding has benefited from a significant contribution from the Decazeville mines and factories, reflecting the economic importance of the mining industry in the city. The lists of the deaths of the First World War, absent from the monument, are kept in the nearby church.

The carved decoration, commissioned in 1934, illustrates an explicit will of the municipality to avoid any glorification of war, favouring representations of horror of conflict and hope for peace. The bas-reliefs, in particular that of the minor victim of a blow of fire, underline the inextricable link between the memory of the soldiers and that of the missing workers, a unique characteristic of this monument. The inauguration, marked by speeches and a concert by the Lyre Decazevilloise, devotes its role as a place of recollection and as a symbol of identity for the decazevillois community.

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