German Troops Roll Through Paris, Evoking Memories

PARIS -- To the strains of Europe's hymn, German soldiers rolled down France's grandest avenue Thursday. To some it brought eerie memories of Nazi occupation, but to most it was a milestone for Europe's unification.


Invited to France's traditional Bastille Day military parade, the 200 Germans joined troops of France, Belgium, Spain and Luxembourg in an 800-member procession by the Eurocorps, Europe's fledgling army.


As their armored personnel carriers rolled down the Champs-Elysees, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, the European Union's hymn, played over the public address system and applause broke out among many of the tens of thousands of onlookers lining the avenue.


"I think you must go past the memories, even if you lived them like me," said Bernard Heslot, 67.


"I feel good for Europe and I think it's normal to see German troops. In fact they're not really German troops; that's why it doesn't matter to me, because they're here with the Eurocorps," said Fred Coustenoble, 23.


But at the sight of black-and-white German military crosses on two-dozen armored vehicles, others couldn't forgive Germany for the daily goose-stepping by Nazi troops down the same avenue for four years during World War II.


There were some scattered whistles of disapproval, one group of protesters dressed in concentration camp uniforms and an elderly couple wore the yellow star of David the Nazis forced the Jews to wear.


"My father was deported" to a death camp, said Annette Salomon, 60. "To see them march then and to see them again today is very difficult."


Still, the horrid memory of a German prison camp, where he lost two friends, "doesn't stop me from being for the Germans in the parade," said Maurice Picault, a frail man of 91. "It's better to be friends than enemies."


The 7,000-member Eurocorps, to grow to 40,000 next year, was created by France and Germany. The two former enemies are now the two main forces behind plans to turn the EU into a political and economic power with a common currency and army.


It was perhaps President Francois Mitterrand's final grand gesture for Europe before he ends 14 years of power next spring. The move made up for shutting out the Germans from the 50th anniversary ceremonies of D-Day, June 6.


But former President Valery Giscard d'Estaing said it was too soon. The Communists, who were a major force in the Resistance, protested on the avenue Monday, and monarchists called the Eurocorps a "Trojan horse."


Admiral Philippe de Gaulle, son of French war hero and former President Charles de Gaulle, said German participation was "neither the right date nor the right place."


But opinion polls indicated about two-thirds of the French public supported Mitterrand's decision.


Both Mitterrand and German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, a guest at the parade, expressed satisfaction after the parade. "I was happy that in a choice between the past and the future, we choose the future," said Mitterrand, 77.


Mitterrand, who was wounded and taken prisoner during the war, recalled his "profound sadness" when Germans marched in Paris then. On Thursday, he said, he felt "joy at the thought that a half-century has been enough to resolve the problems of two world wars."


Kohl said no one could expect "the marks of history to disappear immediately," but added: "The Eurocorps shows that Europe is in the process of being born."