Camp de Thiaroye

''Camp Thiaroye''

Long live victory!

Long live France!

Long live De Gaulle!

Captain Raymond,

commanding the detachment of repatriated infantrymen.

Major August of the Dakar base.

Welcome, Captain.

Captain Raymond.

Captain Labrousse,

Commander of the transit camp of Thiaroye.

Welcome, Captain.

- Have a nice trip? - Yes, very nice.

Your infantrymen look great!

They're not regulation uniforms.

The Americans helped us out.

Otherwise, we would have been in rags.

We'll see to that.

The quartermaster will give you a sun helmet.

Adjangor! Adjangor!

God! God!

Our gods have protected you!

My nephew is a leader.

Hello.

Do you remember your cousin, Bintum?

She has grown up since you left.

She goes to school.

Meet my uncle, my aunt, and their daughter.

How do you say hello?

Kasoumay.

Kasoumay.

Very well. I'll leave you alone.

How's Effok, our village?

I'll talk to you later.

All right.

My respects, Major.

Morning, Lieutenant.

You're going to accommodate them in these huts?

It's better than in their villages.

They're only here a few days. They're going home soon.

l hope they won't be kept here for long.

We owe them a lot, you know.

In any case, it's a transit camp.

l promise they will soon be on their way home.

Right.

Lieutenant Pierre here are the forces!.

You will see with Sergeant Diatta

for the allocation of the huts.

We expect them anytime now.

Look how elegant they are.

Detachment of repatriated infantrymen in full force!

Sergeant Major Diatta at your call, Captain.

Detachment of repatriated infantrymen in full force.

At your orders, Major.

The staff have asked that you say a few words to the men.

Brave infantrymen,

you do honor to the troops.

We are proud of you.

The general, commander of the Dakar base

sends you his greetings and his encouragements.

You have been true to the reputation of your fathers in '14-'18.

Thanks to your courage,

your dedication to the fatherland

our dear France

betrayed, battered, steeped in blood,

rises from its ashes!

And thanks to the sacrifices

made by her sons and daughters,

France is standing tall.

We are glad that you are safely back on African soil.

You will soon return to your villages.

You are here in a transit camp for a short time.

Lieutenant Pierre will be the head of the camp

until your departure.

Sergeant, you will see with Lt. Pierre for your quarters.

Lieutenant, they are all yours.

- I'll come see you soon. - Thank you, Captain.

Let the men get ready for their installation.

Yes, Lieutenant.

Corporal Diarra.

Yes, sir.

Get the men ready for their installation.

Yes, sir.

- At your orders, Lieutenant. - Good. Follow me.

Tell me, l understand you are educated.

Yes, sir. I'll carry on after the war.

On my command.

Attention!

At ease!

Column number one take your baggage.

Column number two, get going!

No messing around.

Everyone in order.

Here is your baggage.

Get them inside.

How come you have two kits?

That kit is for Pays.

Pays.

Here we are on African soil.

Here you are no longer a prisoner

in Buchenwald.

It's over.

Look at Pays!

The war has destroyed him.

He is a bit cracked!

This is the warm land of Africa.

You and l will soon go home to the village.

He stayed too long in concentration camps.

Let's get out of here. He'll declare war on us soon.

He is completely crazy.

Congo, you teach me how to ride, and l give you cola nuts.

All right.

- l give you cola nuts. - How many?

Two.

One today, one tomorrow.

- You teach me well. - Me?

Congo? Me? l began riding in Germany.

- Now you teach me here. - Okay, l mount.

Look straight ahead.

Sergeant.

Morning, Sergeant.

Here is some coffee.

This sugar is mine.

Got it on the black market.

That'll do.

You don't stir?

Certainly, Sergeant.

We are cooking a great meal for great fighters.

Thank you, Sergeant.

We only have French francs.

No problem. You give your French francs.

You know the Senegalese black market.

l know the big market and the black market.

- Okay. Let's go. - We're coming too.

Welcome.

Come here! There!

Everything is fine.

Want me to play music?

We've brought you some food.

- Thank you. - Some palm wine!

Give him the bottle.

Fortunately, you've come back alive.

You'll go back to the village and plough your rice fields.

What killed my parents?

The soldiers did.

They leveled the village with cannons and guns.

They killed my parents?

Yes, the soldiers killed your parents.

When was that?

This child was born two rainy seasons ago.

But it happened when?

This child was born when it happened.

1941...'42...'43...

That was nearly three years ago.

That is correct.

Whose photo is that?

My wife and my daughter.

What did you say?

How dare you marry a woman who is one of those

who destroyed your village?

They killed your parents.

And you bring this woman to the village?

To Effok?

You dare bring her to the village?

Come on, answer me!

Bintum, take your sister.

Your uncle will see you.

This food is disgusting.

We're not pigs.

Really!

Chief!

What is this?

What kind of food is this?

This is the food for an infantryman.

You know cartofune, rutabaga?

That's the food in German POW camps.

Even cartofune is better than that.

l am just the cook.

l can only cook what they give me.

You'd think we are prisoners here.

This isn't a German camp.

If you don't like it, go and see the lieutenant.

You'll know us!

You'll know us son of a bitch!

Shit! l have been chief for 13 years.

It's got no taste.

We're not going to eat this shit!

l am a cook not an administrative! officer.

l cook what they give me.

If you don't like it, go and see the general. Cool it.

Why no meat for us?

Meat for whites is this much.

Meat for mixed race this much.

Meat for natives that much.

As for the infantrymen,

once a week, they can have a tiny bit of meat.

You idiot!

During the war, were there, bullets this size for whites

this size for mixed race

this size for natives