Part 1.
On May 28, 1871, the Paris Commune was defeated. Despite the fact that the power of the Communards in the capital of France lasted only 72 days, the revolutionaries were noted for massive repressions against their political opponents. Government troops opposing the Communards (“Versailles”) also shot revolutionaries and citizens sympathizing with them en masse.
We have prepared two stories from the Illustrated Newspaper for 1871, which clearly illustrate what was happening in Paris 151 years ago.
“The Last Minutes of Archbishop Darbois”
“The Commune shed a lot of blood, caused a lot of evil, but one of the most outrageous acts remains the barbaric murder of Archbishop Darbois and other hostages. When the communists saw that their cause was irretrievably lost, they began to take revenge on the government with unheard-of, but completely useless cruelties. Thus, they captured more than 200 people in Paris, mainly priests and monks, and, imprisoning them in the Meuse prison, kept them there as hostages for a special purpose: if news reached them that the Versailles troops had shot several communists, they shot an equal number of hostages. When 64 people had already been shot in this way, on the morning of May 24, a delegate of the Ferret commune, accompanied by a detachment of national guards, appeared in the section of the prison where the archbishop was imprisoned. Entering the prisoners’ room, he announced:
– Five of our people were killed by enemies of freedom and the fatherland. We must also shoot five hostages to avenge the bloodshed.
Then he named the five people sentenced to death: Archbishop Darbois of Paris, President of the Court of Cassation Bonjean, Abbot Allard, Jesuit monk Ducoudray and priest of the Church of Magdalene Duggery.
They were all taken to the courtyard of the prison, where, in addition to the National Guardsmen, there was a crowd of people. The Archbishop walked firmly and calmly among the soldiers surrounding him, and the others also bravely faced death. Only Dugerry succumbed to a moment of weakness and, going out into the yard, began to cry, covering his face with his hands.
When the condemned were placed against the wall, the soldiers showered them with curses and laughter, but several guards approached the archbishop, asking his forgiveness. He blessed them, and then, addressing the crowd filling the prison yard, said:
“Unfortunate people, don’t you see that you are desecrating yourself with a new crime!” Your revenge falls on the innocent. You don’t shoot us like prisoners of war, like supporters of the opposing side, but you kill us like lowly robbers. None of us were brought to trial or interrogated.
The furious cry of the crowd covered the words of the archbishop, but he, raising his voice, continued:
– I have never been an opponent of true freedom, for it I die at the hands of tyrant executioners. God wants to call me to Himself – I am ready.
After these words there was silence, since the solemnity of the moment affected even the rude, half-drunk mob. You could only hear the soldiers loading their guns. Then a command was heard, two volleys were fired and the unfortunate victims fell. All of them were killed outright, only Bonjean was mortally wounded. One of the National Guardsmen, who noticed this, crushed his head with a blow from the butt. Then all the corpses were dumped into a simple cart and brought to the Lachaise cemetery, where they were thrown into a common pit.”
(“Illustrated Newspaper”, August 26, 1871)
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