Reaction to French President Nicolas Sarkozy's attempt to honor the memory of an executed Resistance fighter speaks volumes about his relationship with French society: half the country applauded the move whereas the other half denounced it as a cynical attempt to advance his own ideological agenda. At issue is Sarkozy's decision to have every school in France stage annual Oct. 22 readings of the letter written by 17-year-old Resistance member Guy Môquet penned to his family shortly before his Nazi captors executed him in 1941. The letter begins with a tender call to "My dearest Mother, my beloved little brother, my beloved father", informing them, "I'm going to die!". It ends with the selfless and uplifting, "Of course I would have preferred to live. But what I want with all my heart is for my death to serve some purpose."
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