Letter from Hervé FAUVE to the President of the Republic on behalf of the families
Document
Below you can read the text of the letter that Hervé FAUVE sent to the President of the Republic, Emmanuel MACRON, via the Elysée website, concerning defence secrecy and the absence of the presence of representatives of the Republic at the fiftieth anniversary commemoration ceremonies.
Mail sent to Mr Emmanuel MACRON President of the Republic on 13 January 2018
Dear Mr MACRON
50 years ago, the submarine Minerve disappeared off the coast of Toulon with 52 men on board. Despite several search campaigns, the last of which dates back to 1970, the wreck has never been found.
It is the only case of mass disappearance on this scale since the end of the 2nd World War.
It was commanded by my father, Lieutenant Fauve, aged 32. The average age of the crew was under 25.
On 8 February 1968, during a national tribute ceremony, the President of the Republic, General de Gaulle, deeply moved by this tragedy, cited the crew in the Army Order. On that day in Toulon, he made a symbolic dive on board the submarine Eurydice, which was also to disappear on 4 March 1970.
The research file was classified as Defence Confidential for a period of 50 years, and since then many rumours, more or less malicious, have developed around the causes of the accident. Almost everyone who has asked to read the file has been turned down, sometimes very curtly.
Personally, I have tirelessly sought and received answers to any questions I may have had. I was even given access to the file.
It is virtually empty and contains nothing that could jeopardise national security. What is now known and accessible, particularly on the Internet, is infinitely more detailed. However, the file remains classified until the 50th anniversary of the most recent document. That means August 2018 and beyond.
On Saturday 27 January, a commemoration ceremony will be held in Toulon at which the French government will not be represented, the official Army authorities having declined the invitation for that particular day.
Since the ceremony on 8 February 1968, the families have had to live silently with their grief, and the state has never made the slightest gesture towards them. In particular, they have never been given the slightest hint of an explanation as to the possible causes of the tragedy.
In 2018, fifty years after the tragedy, some of the fathers and mothers of the crew members are still with us, as are the widows, brothers and sisters, and of course their children.
That's why I'm asking you if, on 27 January, you could announce the declassification of all the documents in the file.
Obviously I would hope for a stronger symbolic gesture to perpetuate their memory, but it would already be a sign.
In that hope,
Yours sincerely
