Chirac, Kohl Mark Reconciliation of France, Germany

French Premier Jacques Chirac and West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl paid tribute on Sunday to the post-World War II statesmen who reconciled their two countries after generations of enmity.

The leaders pledged to continue the alliance foreshadowed 25 years ago when Gen. Charles de Gaulle and Chancellor Conrad Adenauer knelt together at the cathedral in Reims for a Mass of reconciliation.

“Their gesture opened the way for the construction of a united Europe,” said Chirac after attending a commemorative Mass for peace with Kohl in Reims.

“After 25 years of common history, you can say you are at home here,” he told the chancellor.

Both leaders had soothing words for Franco-German relations, contrasting vividly with the horror of the Nazi occupation relived by witnesses at the trial in Lyon of former Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie.

Neither Kohl nor Chirac referred in public to the trial, which ended on Friday with the so-called “Butcher of Lyon” receiving a life sentence for crimes against humanity.

From Reims, scene of Germany’s capitulation in 1945, Chirac and Kohl flew by helicopter to this village, where De Gaulle lived his last years and is buried.

Accompanied by the Resistance leader’s son, Adm. Philippe de Gaulle, they stood in silence at the simple tomb in the village graveyard.

Kohl said the Franco-German reconciliation had erased the prospect of the two countries ever fighting again.

“The young generation has a great opportunity--they will never know war between France and Germany and can live as free citizens in Europe,” he said at a ceremony in the Reims town hall.

“We must continue on this path,” he said.