Decisive phase of war – The attack against the European west coast has just begun

Source	La Province de Namur, the 7th of June 1944, first page.
Event referred to	6th of June 1944 – D-Day
Technological characteristics	Type of file: Image Extension : pdf Characteristics Dimension of the file: 1793 Ko Availability proposed: pdf document with zoom options
Description of the source	Kind of source: Daily newspaper Origin of the source: Archives of the Public Library of Namur (Belgium) Language: French Copyright issues: full availability
Contextualisation of the source	“La Province de Namur” was a regional daily newspaper distributed in the Namur district, controlled by the Germans. It has been published from the 17th of August 1940 till the 31th of August 1944. It was the regional edition of the daily newspaper “La Gazette de Charleroi” which was authorized by the German authorities. Before the war, it was a newspaper of middle-left and anticlerical trend. It disappeared after the war.
Interpretation of the source	On 7th June 1944, “La Province de Namur” titles on its first page : “ The war has just reached its decisive phase – The attack against the European west coast has just begun”. Helped by a map of Normandy, the newspaper relates the information regarding the landing. It tells about “four English and American parachutists divisions” which “can be considered as widely destroyed”. Regarding the landed troops, they have almost been “reduced to nothing”. The uncertainty prevails regarding the future events since the journalist speaks about a possible extending of the fight zone but further he considers the possible re-embarkation of the troops because of “very heavy losses”. From German information sources, the author could discern the Anglo-American objectives, i.e. to secure the landing zone thanks to airborne troops parachuted on the flanks, to occupy Cherbourg harbour to allow the landing of troops in order to break the German lines. Quoting information sources from Berlin, he recalls the importance of the engaged Anglo-American manpower that has been “destroyed, strongly affected by the very deadly shootings of the German coastal defence”. He speaks about “hard and very deadly fights for the attacker ” which “starts now to feel the power of the Atlantic wall”. Concerning the reactions, he quotes the German staff in Berlin, where an “absolute trust” prevails: this one declares not to be surprised by the event. On the contrary, he recalls the satisfaction of the German commandment “which finds one of its deepest hopes finally fulfilled”, i.e. the west duel with the Anglo-Americans”. He also repeats the talk of Marshal Pétain, exhorting his compatriots not to take part in the fights, because they would have to fear “tragic reprisals” and “the innocent French populations would have to suffer the consequences of these reprisals”. Analyzing the event, the journalist stresses on the importance of the deployed means at the time of this “giant deployment of forces” as well as on the resolution of both adversaries. Moreover, he worries about the Belgian population which could have to suffer the consequences of the following fights. Furthermore, he wonders about the future of the European civilization. He considers that the Germans “defend our continent” and that their interests are close to ours. The Americans are described as “a danger at least as redoubtable as the Soviet peril” because they dream of establishing “their horrible economic imperialism…. on the ruins of Europe”. Showing the example of Rome evacuated by the Germans forces, he describes Hitler as an European anxious to preserve the cultural heritage of our civilization whereas the Americans are just “flying Zulus…. who have had little respect for the venerable monuments of Rome”. So, behind the appearance of objectivity that « La Province de Namur” wants to show, it remains a collaborative newspaper, on the one hand because it only repeats information coming from German authorities, and on the other hand because it uses this appearance of objectivity to transmit a doubtful ideological message.
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