Bye Bye Geneviève

"Friend or foe?" With these words, an American paratrooper storms into the house of twelve-year-old Geneviève and her family in the middle of the night on 5 June 1944. It was to be the "longest day of her life". It was the first contact between the inhabitants of Sainte-Mère-Église and their liberators during the Second World War. However, it is not them who save the family, but the Duboscqs who rush to the soldiers' aid. The Americans have landed with their parachutes in the swamp in front of the house and are in danger of drowning. Throughout the night, Papa Maurice repeatedly takes his barge out into the swamps and pulls one paratrooper after another out of the water. He saves 350 of them from certain death at the risk of their lives. The family then took them in. Little Geneviève and her mother nurse and care for the injured soldiers. In the uncertain times of war, the Duboscqs set an example of humanity and take care of those who need their help without judgement. In the midst of hatred, suffering and death, Geneviève and her family hold on to what they believe in. Their unparalleled Christian charity transcends nationalities and language barriers. And it brings the family closer to what they have been longing for since the outbreak of war: Peace. Thirty years later, they are honoured during the commemoration of the landing for the rescue and first aid of the paratroopers. Geneviève has never forgotten that terrible night and the events that followed. Years later, she began to tell her story, always carrying the words "Bye bye Dgenevi" in her heart, with which the GIs said goodbye to her and which have always been a reminder of her life's testimony for peace.