Communards' Wall 1.9

The Communards’ Wall at the Père Lachaise cemetery is where, on May 28, 1871, one-hundred and forty-seven fédérés, combatants of the Paris Commune, were shot and thrown in an open trench at the foot of the wall. To the French left, especially socialists and communists, the wall became the symbol of the people's struggle for their liberty and ideals. Many leaders of the French Communist Party, especially those involved in the French Resistance, are buried nearby.The Père Lachaise cemetery was established in May 1804 on a land owned by the Jesuits for centuries, and where Père Lachaise, confessor of Louis XIV, lived the latter part of his life. Cemetery of the aristocracy in the 19th century, it also received the remains of famous people from previous eras. During the spring of 1871 the last of the combatants of the Commune entrenched themselves in the cemetery. The Armée versaillaise, which was summoned to suppress the Commune, had control over the area towards the end of the afternoon of May 28th, and shot all of the prisoners against the wall.The massacre of the Communards did not put an end to the repression. During the fighting between 20,000 and 35,000 deaths, and more than 43,000 prisoners were taken; afterwards, a military court pronounced about a hundred death sentences, more than 13,000 prison sentences, and close to 4,000 deportations to New Caledonia.