A family from the south of France has donated nearly 250 letters dating from the First World War to the In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres.
The documents were discovered back in May 2021 by Aurore Fauré-Cazeneuve while she was tidying up her parents’ home. They consist of letters that Aurore’s grandfather Ernest Cazeneuve and her great-uncle Alfred Cazeneuve exchanged with their family during the Great War.
Alfred was killed on 14 August 1914 in Franconville, eastern France. Ernest was taken prisoner on 13 November 1914 somewhere between Ypres and Wijtschate, before being deported to a camp in Münster, Germany.
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Aurore had initially intended to create an exhibition around these letters herself. But after a visit to the Ypres region and the In Flanders Fields Museum last year, she decided to donate the collection to the cultural institution.
In the presence of her children and grandchildren, the Frenchwoman officially handed over the entire correspondence to the museum on Saturday morning.
“For us, these donations are very important, because the In Flanders Fields Museum starts from human and personal stories to tell the ‘big’ story,” said the local alderman in charge of museums Dimitry Soenen (N-VA).
