LÉGION'ARTS
If you notice any errors in the translations, remember:
"In the Legion, of the 144 languages, there is only one language: understanding each other."
Edito from PYC
Freedom
By Antoine Marquet
The tree bears the fruit… Many years after the start of the “Arab Spring,” we are seeing the results.
From the Maghreb and the Mashreq to the distant Islamic borders of China, a broad and tumultuous movement wanted the same thing that anti-Soviet rebels demanded a quarter of a century ago.
The very clear object of desire was freedom. But freedom, in its ambiguity and enormity, is protean, often dons the trappings of circumstance, and leads to diverse consequences. Read more...
The tree bears the fruit… Many years after the start of the “Arab Spring,” we are seeing the results.
From the Maghreb and the Mashreq to the distant Islamic borders of China, a broad and tumultuous movement wanted the same thing that anti-Soviet rebels demanded a quarter of a century ago.
The very clear object of desire was freedom. But freedom, in its ambiguity and enormity, is protean, often dons the trappings of circumstance, and leads to diverse consequences. Read more...
Freedom
View of the elders
Heinz Kuznik, from the ordeal of war to a love of France
A man with an atypical life
Who remembers Kuznik?
By Christian Morisot
Heinz Kuznik was one of those former legionnaires whose story leaves no one indifferent, due to the sheer number of his various commitments throughout a life rich in twists and turns and adventures of all kinds…
Born on July 19, 1928, in Zwochau, Germany, at the age of 16 he was conscripted into the German army. In 1944, he was taken prisoner on the Russian front, a captivity that lasted four long years.
Upon returning home, Heinz worked for a German farmer in northern Germany. He quickly became dissatisfied with the treatment he received and, disheartened and abandoned, found himself in the Black Forest, in the French zone. There, a man offered him a position in the French Foreign Legion; he had little choice…
This interview sheds some light on the atypical life of this man who has known far too many wars throughout his life. Proud to be French not by birth but by blood shed, he holds three Croix de Guerre medals, the Médaille Militaire, and is a Knight of the Legion of Honor. Heinz Kuznik has been at the...Read more...
Heinz Kuznik, from the ordeal of war to a love of France
A man with an atypical life
Reflexions of the moment
Before the final bivouac carries us away…
we have received a history, we have a duty to pass it on.
Christian Morisot
A jumble of pointless stories for reflection:
Critical thinking is still alive and well, especially concerning past events. Each and every one of us presents our version of events, sometimes different from the facts themselves. But to what extent can the truth of the moment be transformed into historical reality? Freezing our collective memory in immutable and idealized certainties would be, to say the least… questionable.
This is also how certain traditions, clouded by incomprehensible intellectual laziness, are constructed… An impossible idea comes to mind: the next time I participate in or listen to a conversation at a friendly gathering of former legionnaires, I will write it down. It could happily enrich the memory of our Legionary history... Read more...
Before the final bivouac carries us away…
we have received a history, we have a duty to pass it on.
Share your point of view
This space allows you to respond to the content published on this site.
We gladly welcome different opinions, provided they are expressed in a reasoned, respectful, and non-insulting manner.
Constructive exchanges are encouraged to promote dialogue and the enrichment of viewpoints.
We gladly welcome different opinions, provided they are expressed in a reasoned, respectful, and non-insulting manner.
Constructive exchanges are encouraged to promote dialogue and the enrichment of viewpoints.
This space allows you to respond to the content published on this site.
Literary Explorations
My Imaginary Library: Alain, the Philosopher with the Plough
By Christian Morisot
It is said that the books and authors we read reveal a little about our personality and give an idea of who we are, our way of thinking, and much more… In its day, the magazine “Képi Blanc” asked a handful of volunteer writers to review the books received by the editor-in-chief. I particularly enjoyed this exercise and writing this kind of article. It forced me to read, even books I hadn't chosen based on their titles, as I usually do.
Today, I'm embarking on a review of the writers who have marked my life as an avid reader, those whose works have forged a real connection with my own imagination... Read more...
My Imaginary Library: Alain, the Philosopher with the Plough
All this is above our heads
French Astronauts
By Michel Gravereau
Now that we have welcomed back Sophie Adenot, who returned from an 8-month stay on the International Space Station (ISS), it would be appropriate to remember her predecessors, in addition to the one who remains the most well-known among the French: Thomas Pesquet.
The first Frenchman to experience the joys of weightlessness was Jean-Loup Chrétien.
At the time, the Russians had installed a platform in orbit around the Earth: Salyut. Aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, Jean-Loup Chrétien reached Salyut, and during his stay, he inaugurated scientific experiments in space for the first time. Twelve experiments by the CNES (French National Centre for Space Studies) were carried out.
He returned a second time in 1988, this time to a different setting, as he settled into the new Soviet space station: Mir. He will be the first European to "walk in space" during an EVA (extravehicular activity).
For his third stay up there, he returned to Mir in 1999, but this time aboard the American space shuttle Atlantis.
With his extensive knowledge in the field, he will participate in the design of the International Space Station for NASA, which he will join. Read more...
French Astronauts
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WHO WE ARE
Légion’Arts is an independent publishing house created by former legionnaire artists: preserving and sharing the memory of the Foreign Legion through authentic, human, and inspiring works. Every legionnaire has a voice. With Légion’Arts, these stories become a collective memory, accessible to all.