Paris massacre of 1961
Encyclopedia
Massacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on 17 October 1961, during the Algerian War (1954–62). Under orders from the head of the Parisian police
Prefecture of Police
The Prefecture of Police , headed by the Prefect of Police , is an agency of the Government of France which provides the police force for the city of Paris and the surrounding three suburban départements of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Val-de-Marne...
, Maurice Papon
Maurice Papon
Maurice Papon was a French civil servant, industrial leader and Gaullist politician, who was convicted for crimes against humanity for his participation in the deportation of over 1600 Jews during World War II when he was secretary general for police of the Prefecture of Bordeaux.Papon also...
, the French police
French National Police
The National Police , formerly the Sûreté Nationale, is one of two national police forces and the main civil law enforcement agency of France, with primary jurisdiction in cities and large towns. The other main agency is the military Gendarmerie, with primary jurisdiction in smaller towns and rural...
attacked a demonstration
Demonstration (people)
A demonstration or street protest is action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause; it normally consists of walking in a mass march formation and either beginning with or meeting at a designated endpoint, or rally, to hear speakers.Actions such as...
of some 30,000 pro-FLN
National Liberation Front (Algeria)
The National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Algeria. It was set up on November 1, 1954 as a merger of other smaller groups, to obtain independence for Algeria from France.- Anticolonial struggle :...
Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
ns. Two months before, FLN had decided to increase the bombing in France and to resume the campaign against the pro-France Algerians and against
Café wars
The Café Wars took place during the Algerian War, as a part of the internal fighting in France between two rival Algerian nationalist movements, the MNA and the FLN ....
the rival Algerian nationalist organization called MNA
Algerian National Movement
The Algerian National Movement was an organization founded to counteract the efforts of the Front de Libération Nationale . It was supported and, some say, partly financed by the French who used it to validate the claim that the FLN was not the sole representative of Algerian desires.It was...
in France. After 37 years of denial, the French government acknowledged 40 deaths in 1998, although there are estimates of over 200.
The 17 October 1961 massacre appears to have been intentional, as has been demonstrated by historian Jean-Luc Einaudi, who won a trial against Maurice Papon in 1999 — the latter was convicted in 1998 on charges of crimes against humanity for his role under the Vichy collaborationist regime
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Official documentation and eyewitnesses within the Paris police department indeed suggest that the massacre was directed by Maurice Papon. Police records show that Papon called for officers in one station to be 'subversive' in quelling the demonstrations, and assured them protection from prosecution if they participated. Many demonstrators died when they were violently herded by police into the River Seine, with some thrown from bridges after being beaten unconscious. Other demonstrators were killed within the courtyard of the Paris police headquarters after being arrested and delivered there in police buses. Officers who participated in the courtyard killings took the precaution of removing identification numbers from their uniforms, while senior officers ignored pleas by other policemen who were shocked when witnessing the brutality. Silence about the events within the police headquarters was further enforced by threats of reprisals from participating officers.
Forty years later, Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë is a French politician, and has been the mayor of Paris since 2001. He is member of the Socialist Party . Delanoë was born in Tunis, Tunisia to a French-Tunisian father and a French mother...
, member of the Socialist Party (PS) and Mayor of Paris, put a plaque in remembrance of the massacre on the Saint-Michel bridge
Pont Saint-Michel
Pont Saint-Michel is a bridge linking the Place Saint-Michel on the left bank of the river Seine to the Île de la Cité. It was named after the nearby chapel of Saint-Michel. It is near Sainte Chapelle and the Palais de Justice...
on 17 October 2001. How many demonstrators were killed is still unclear, but estimates range from 70 to 200 people. In the absence of official estimates, the placard which commemorates the massacre stated: "In memory of the many Algerians killed during the bloody repression of the peaceful demonstration of 17 October 1961". On 18 February 2007 (the day after Papon's death), calls were made for a Paris Métro
Paris Métro
The Paris Métro or Métropolitain is the rapid transit metro system in Paris, France. It has become a symbol of the city, noted for its density within the city limits and its uniform architecture influenced by Art Nouveau. The network's sixteen lines are mostly underground and run to 214 km ...
station under construction in Gennevilliers
Gennevilliers
Gennevilliers is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-History:On 9 April 1929, one-fifth of the territory of Gennevilliers was detached and became the commune of Villeneuve-la-Garenne.-Transport:...
to be named "17 Octobre 1961" in commemoration of the massacre.
Background
The 17 October 1961 massacre took place in the context of the Algerian War (1954–62), which had become more and more violent over the years. After de GaulleCharles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
's equivocal return to power during the May 1958 crisis
May 1958 crisis
The May 1958 crisis was a political crisis in France during the turmoil of the Algerian War of Independence which led to the return of Charles de Gaulle to political responsibilities after a ten year absence...
and his sudden change of policy concerning Algerian independence, the OAS used all possible means to oppose the National Liberation Front
National Liberation Front (Algeria)
The National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Algeria. It was set up on November 1, 1954 as a merger of other smaller groups, to obtain independence for Algeria from France.- Anticolonial struggle :...
(FLN), which took the war to the metropolis
Metropolis
A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...
where it was helped by some activists such as the Jeanson network
Jeanson network
The Jeanson network was a group of French communist militants led by Francis Jeanson who helped Algerian National Liberation Front agents operating in the French metropolitan territory during the Algerian War. They were mainly involved in carrying money and papers for the Algerians and were...
. The repression by French authorities
Torture during the Algerian War
Elements of the French Armed Forces as well as of the opposing Algerian National Liberation Front made use of torture during the Algerian War of Independence , creating an ongoing public controversy. Pierre Vidal-Naquet estimates that there were "possibly hundreds of thousands of instances of...
, both in Algeria and in metropolitan France
Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...
, was very harsh.
The French National Police
According to historian Jean-Luc Einaudi, a specialist in the 17 October 1961 massacre, some of the causes of the violent repression of the 17 October 1961 demonstration can best be understood in terms of the composition of the French police force itself, which still included many former members of the force in place during the World War II Vichy regime which had collaborated with the GestapoGestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
to detain Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
, as for example in the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup of 16–17 July 1942.
The vast majority of police officers suspended after the Liberation of Paris
Liberation of Paris
The Liberation of Paris took place during World War II from 19 August 1944 until the surrender of the occupying German garrison on August 25th. It could be regarded by some as the last battle in the Battle for Normandy, though that really ended with the crushing of the Wehrmacht forces between the...
in 1944 for extreme forms of collaborationism (including assistance to the Parti Populaire Français
Parti Populaire Français
The Parti Populaire Français was a fascist political party led by Jacques Doriot before and during World War II...
and similar groups) were later reintegrated into the police forces. In contrast, some of the policemen who had been part of the Resistance movement
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
had their career advancement blocked because of Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
anti-communism
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
, since the Resistance was partially communist
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
and communist ministers had been expelled from the government in May 1947. Moreover, even police officers who had been members of the Resistance might well have taken part in the various raids against Jews and other persecuted groups during the Vichy regime, as otherwise they would have been dismissed, according to J.-L. Einaudi and Maurice Rajsfus.
The career of Maurice Papon as Head of Paris' police force in the 1960s and Minister of Finance under Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Valéry Marie René Georges Giscard d'Estaing is a French centre-right politician who was President of the French Republic from 1974 until 1981...
's presidency in the 1970s, suggests that there was institutional racism
Institutional racism
Institutional racism describes any kind of system of inequality based on race. It can occur in institutions such as public government bodies, private business corporations , and universities . The term was coined by Black Power activist Stokely Carmichael in the late 1960s...
in the French police until at least the 1960s. In fact, Papon was not charged and convicted until 1997-98 for his World War II crimes against humanity in being responsible for the deportation of 1,560 Jews, including children and the elderly, between 1942 and 1944.
The appointment of Maurice Papon as the head of the Prefecture of Police (March 1958)
Before his appointment as chief of the Paris police, Papon had been, since 1956, prefect of the Constantine departmentConstantine Province
Constantine is one of the 48 provinces of Algeria, whose capital is the city of the same name.- Adminsitrative divisions :The province is divided into 6 districts, which are subdivided into 12 communes or municipalities.-Districts:...
in Algeria, where he actively participated in the repression of and the use of torture
Torture during the Algerian War
Elements of the French Armed Forces as well as of the opposing Algerian National Liberation Front made use of torture during the Algerian War of Independence , creating an ongoing public controversy. Pierre Vidal-Naquet estimates that there were "possibly hundreds of thousands of instances of...
against the civilian population. On 13 March 1958, 7,000 policemen demonstrated in the courtyard of the Police headquarters, against the delays in the "risque prime" accorded to them because of the war — although the FLN had not yet begun to target police officers at this time. Encouraged by far right deputy Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
, 2,000 of them attempted to enter the Palais Bourbon
Palais Bourbon
The Palais Bourbon, , a palace located on the left bank of the Seine, across from the Place de la Concorde, Paris , is the seat of the French National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French government.-History:...
, seat of the National Assembly
French National Assembly
The French National Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The upper house is the Senate ....
, with shouts of "Sales Juifs! A la Seine! Mort aux fellaghas!" (insulting Jews and Arabs, literally Dirty Jews! Into the Seine (river)! Death to the (Algerian) rebels!). With the recommendation of Minister of Interior Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury
Maurice Bourgès-Maunoury
Maurice Jean Marie Bourgès-Maunoury was a French Radical politician who served as Prime Minister in the Fourth Republic during 1957.He is famous, especially, for fulfilling prominent ministerial role in the government during the Suez Crisis....
, Maurice Papon was next day named prefect of the police. Two years earlier, in Constantine, Algeria
Constantine, Algeria
Constantine is the capital of Constantine Province in north-eastern Algeria. It was the capital of the same-named French département until 1962. Slightly inland, it is about 80 kilometres from the Mediterranean coast, on the banks of Rhumel river...
, he had assumed the role of "Inspecteur général pour l'administration en mission extraordinaire" (IGAME - General Inspector for the Administration on Extraordinary Mission). "Prohibited zones, detention centers ('camps de regroupements'), torture, executions without trial: this is the reality of the war he [Papon] was supervising out there." According to Einaudi, in the following years, he would apply to Paris and to the Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
department the methods generalized in Algeria.
After the May 1958 crisis
May 1958 crisis
The May 1958 crisis was a political crisis in France during the turmoil of the Algerian War of Independence which led to the return of Charles de Gaulle to political responsibilities after a ten year absence...
and the installation of the new Fifth Republic
French Fifth Republic
The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, introduced on 4 October 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the French Fourth Republic, replacing the prior parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system...
under Charles de Gaulle's leadership, Maurice Papon was kept on by the Resistance hero. Papon created the 'compagnies de district' (district companies), police forces that specialized in repression, where new police recruits were trained. These district companies were formed mainly from veterans of the Indochina War
First Indochina War
The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...
(1947–54) or young people coming back from Algeria.
August 1958 raids
On 25 August 1958, an FLN terrorist offensive in Paris murdered three policemen on boulevardBoulevard
A Boulevard is type of road, usually a wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare, divided with a median down the centre, and roadways along each side designed as slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery...
de l'Hôpital in the XIIIe arrondissement
XIIIe arrondissement
The 13th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France....
and another in front of the cartoucherie de Vincennes. The Prefect of police, Maurice Papon, organized in retaliation massive raids on Algerian people in Paris and its suburbs. More than 5,000 Algerians were detained in the former Beaujon hospital, in the Japy gymnasium (XIe arrondissement
XIe arrondissement
The 11th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated on the Right Bank of the River Seine, the 11th is one of the most densely populated urban districts not just of Paris but of any European city.-Description:The eleventh arrondissement is a...
) and in the Vél'd'Hiv — the Japy gymnasium and the Vél'd'Hiv had been used as detention centers under Pétain
Philippe Pétain
Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain , generally known as Philippe Pétain or Marshal Pétain , was a French general who reached the distinction of Marshal of France, and was later Chief of State of Vichy France , from 1940 to 1944...
's collaborationist regime. A former member of the FTP resistance, reporter Madeleine Rifaud then wrote in L'Humanité
L'Humanité
L'Humanité , formerly the daily newspaper linked to the French Communist Party , was founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, a leader of the French Section of the Workers' International...
:
"In the past two days, a racist concentration camp has been opened in Paris. They have not even had the good sense to choose a site which would not remind French patriots who are currently celebrating the anniversary of the Liberation of Paris of what took place there"
The creation of the CIV and of the FPA militia (1959–1960)
According to Einaudi, "Already at this time, policemen [were] boasting about throwing Algerians in the Seine" river. VincennesVincennes
Vincennes is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe.-History:...
' Identification Centre (CIV - Centre d'identification de Vincennes) was then created under the authority of the prefecture of police in January 1959. Algerians detained during police raids in the Paris region could be brought there for identity verifications but could also be put under house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
by the police prefect. "These raids were frequently the occasion of violence." Einaudi stated.
The Auxiliary Police Force (FPA - Force de police auxiliaire) was then created in 1959. This special constabulary force, put under the authority of the Algerian Affairs Coordination Centre of the Prefecture of Police (Centre de coordination des Affaires algériennes de la préfecture de police) and supervised by the military, was under the control of the police prefect, Maurice Papon. Led by Captain Raymond Montaner and based at the Fort de Noisy, Romainville, it was composed entirely of Algerian Muslims - recruited either in Algeria or in France. In autumn 1960, the FPA was composed of 600 members. It first operated in the XIIIe arrondissement
XIIIe arrondissement
The 13th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France....
where it requisitioned cafe-hotels. Torture is rumoured to have been utilised most notably at 9, rue Harvey and 208, rue du Château des Rentiers. Disappearances took place. The FPA then extended its action to the XVIIIe arrondissement
XVIIIe arrondissement
The 18th arrondissement , located on the Rive Droite , is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, France...
, where three hotels were requisitioned in rue de la Goutte-d'Or. The FPA was also active in the suburbs, from the summer of 1961, in particular in Nanterre
Nanterre
Nanterre is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located west of the center of Paris.Nanterre is the capital of the Hauts-de-Seine department as well as the seat of the Arrondissement of Nanterre....
's bidonvilles
Shanty town
A shanty town is a slum settlement of impoverished people who live in improvised dwellings made from scrap materials: often plywood, corrugated metal and sheets of plastic...
. Some voices were opposed to these crimes denied by the police prefecture". Christian magazine Témoignage Chrétien wrote: "It is not possible to stay mute when, in our Paris, men are resurrecting the methods of the Gestapo".
1961
The FLN decided to resume bombings against the French police at the end of August 1961; from the end of August 1961 to the beginning of October 1961, 11 policemen were killed and 17 injured (in Paris and its suburbs). "These bombings had the effect of spreading fear throughout the ranks of the Paris police, but also for increasing the desire for revenge and hate against the whole of the community. During the whole of September, the Algerian population was severely repressed. In practice, this massive repression was based on physical appearance", according to Einaudi. Daily raids against Algerians — frequently confusing any Magreb people (Moroccans or Tunisians), and even Spanish or Italian immigrants, with Algerians. — Algerians were arrested at work or in the streets and were thrown into the Seine with their hands tied in order to drown them, among the other methods used for this repression, as shown for example by a report published by the priest, Joseph Kerlan, from the Mission de FranceAccording to historian Einaudi, "It was in this climate that, on 2 October, during the funerals of a policeman killed by the FLN, the police prefect [Papon] proclaimed, in the prefecture's courtyard: "For one hit taken we shall give back ten!" This call [was] an encouragement to kill Algerians and [was] immediately understood as such. On the same day, visiting Montrouge
Montrouge
Montrouge is a commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the center of Paris, France. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe...
's police station, the prefect of police declared to the police officers present: "You also must be subversive in the war that sets you against others. You will be covered, I give you my word on that."
Events
On 5 October 1961, the prefecture of policePrefecture of Police
The Prefecture of Police , headed by the Prefect of Police , is an agency of the Government of France which provides the police force for the city of Paris and the surrounding three suburban départements of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Val-de-Marne...
, whose chief was Maurice Papon
Maurice Papon
Maurice Papon was a French civil servant, industrial leader and Gaullist politician, who was convicted for crimes against humanity for his participation in the deportation of over 1600 Jews during World War II when he was secretary general for police of the Prefecture of Bordeaux.Papon also...
, announced in a press statement the introduction of a curfew
Curfew
A curfew is an order specifying a time after which certain regulations apply. Examples:# An order by a government for certain persons to return home daily before a certain time...
from 8.30 p.m. to 5.30 a.m. in Paris and its suburbs for "Algerian Muslim workers", "French Muslims" and "French Muslims of Algeria" (all three terms used by Papon, although the approximately 150,000 Algerians living at the time in Paris were officially considered French and possessed a French identity card). The French Federation of the FLN thus called upon the whole of the Algerian population in Paris, men, women and children, to demonstrate against the curfew, widely regarded as a racist administrative measure, on 17 October 1961. According to historian Jean-Luc Einaudi, the head of the police, Maurice Papon, had 7,000 policemen, 1,400 CRS
Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité
The Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité are the riot control forces and general reserve of the French National Police. The CRS were created on 8 December 1944 and the first units were organised by 31 January 1945. The CRS were reorganized in 1948...
and gendarmes
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
mobiles (riot police) to block this demonstration, to which the Prefecture of Police had not given its agreement (mandatory for legal demonstrations). The police forces thus blocked all access to the capital, metro stations, train stations, Paris' Portes, etc. Of a population of about 150,000 Algerians living in Paris, 30,000-40,000 of them managed to join the demonstration however. Police raids were carried out all over the city. 11,000 persons were arrested, and transported by RATP bus to the Parc des Expositions and other internment centers used under Vichy
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
. Those detained included not only Algerians, but also Moroccans and Tunisians immigrants, who were then sent to the various police stations, to the courtyard of the police prefecture, the Palais des Sports
Palais des Sports (Paris)
Palais de Sports is an indoor sports arena, located at 1, place de la Porte de Versailles in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, France. The closest métro station is Porte de Versailles....
of Porte de Versailles (XVe arrondissement
XVe arrondissement
The 15th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France.Situated on the Rive Gauche of the River Seine and sharing the Montparnasse district with the 6th and 14th arrondissements, it is the city's most populous arrondissement...
), and the Stade Coubertin, etc.
Despite these raids, 4,000 to 5,000 people succeeded in demonstrating peacefully on the Grands Boulevards from République
République (Paris Metro)
République is a station of the Paris Métro, serving lines 3, 5, 8, 9, and 11.The station opened on 19 October 1904 as part of the first section of line 3 between Père Lachaise and Villiers. The line 5 platforms opened on 15 November 1907 with the extension of the line from Jacques Bonsergent to...
to Opéra
Palais Garnier
The Palais Garnier, , is an elegant 1,979-seat opera house, which was built from 1861 to 1875 for the Paris Opera. It was originally called the Salle des Capucines because of its location on the Boulevard des Capucines in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, but soon became known as the Palais Garnier...
, without incident. Blocked at Opéra by police forces, the demonstrators backtracked. Reaching the Rex cinema (at the same site as the Rex Club on the current "Grands Boulevards"), the police opened fire on the crowd and charged, leading to several deaths. On the Neuilly
Neuilly-sur-Seine
Neuilly-sur-Seine is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.Although Neuilly is technically a suburb of Paris, it is immediately adjacent to the city and directly extends it. The area is composed of mostly wealthy, select residential...
bridge (separating Paris from the suburbs), the police detachments and FPA members also shot at the crowd, killing some. Algerians were thrown into and drowned in the Seine at points across the city and its suburbs, most notably at the Saint-Michel bridge
Pont Saint-Michel
Pont Saint-Michel is a bridge linking the Place Saint-Michel on the left bank of the river Seine to the Île de la Cité. It was named after the nearby chapel of Saint-Michel. It is near Sainte Chapelle and the Palais de Justice...
in the centre of Paris and near the Prefecture of Police, very close to Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...
.
"During the night, a massacre took place in the courtyard of the police headquarters, killing tens of victims. In the Palais des Sports, then in the "Palais des Expositions of Porte de Versailles", detained Algerians, many by now already injured, [became] systematic victims of a 'welcoming committee'. In these places, considerable violence took place and prisoners were tortured. Men would be dying there until the end of the week. Similar scenes took place in the Coubertin stadium... The raids, violence and drownings would be continued over the following days. For several weeks, unidentified corpses were discovered along the banks of the river. The result of the massacre may be estimated to at least 200 dead."
In 1961, the police prefecture spoke only of "2 persons shot dead". Following historian Jean-Luc Einaudi's testimony during the Papon trial in the late-1990s, left-wing police Minister Jean-Pierre Chevènement
Jean-Pierre Chevènement
Jean-Pierre Chevènement is a French politician. He was Minister of Defense from 1988 to 1991 and Minister of the Interior from 1997 to 2000. He was a presidential candidate in 2002 and since 2008 has been a member of the Senate....
ordered the opening of parts of the archives. The resulting Mandelken Report, based on the investigation of these partial records, counted 32 dead. Einaudi then published an op-ed
Op-ed
An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page , is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board...
in Le Monde on 20 May 1998, contesting this official figure, criticizing both the methodology of the report and the consulted records. He called attention to the fact that many of the records had been destroyed. A report that Papon had prepared for Interior Minister Roger Frey
Roger Frey
Roger Frey was a French politician. He was Minister of the Interior and president of the Constitutional Council of France.-Monokini prosecution:...
, the prime minister, and the head of government, Charles de Gaulle, was not included in the consulted records. In addition, the Mandelken report ignored the massacre that had taken place in the courtyard of the Police prefecture, and Papon's name itself appeared nowhere in the report. Einaudi concluded his op-ed stating that: "on the night of 17 October 1961 there had been a massacre perpetrated by the police forces acting on the orders of Maurice Papon." Papon subsequently filed a lawsuit in February 1999, a courtsuit against him, because of this sentence, alleging defamation of a public servant.
In the meanwhile, the state acknowledged in 1998 the massacre and spoke of 40 dead.
Responding to Papon's request, the court gave an ambiguous judgement. It stated that Einaudi had "defamed" Papon, but that Einaudi had acted on "good faith", and praised the "seriousness and quality" of Einaudi's research. Both Papon and Einaudi were thus vindicated by the court's judgement.
The French juridical system lacks formal independence
Separation of powers
The separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle, is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
from the executive branch
Executive Power
Executive Power is Vince Flynn's fifth novel, and the fourth to feature Mitch Rapp, an American agent that works for the CIA as an operative for a covert counter terrorism unit called the "Orion Team."-Plot summary:...
of the French government, and is subject to executive pressures which calls into question judicial findings. For example the trials about the corruption scandals in the Paris region
Corruption scandals in the Paris region
In the 1980s and 1990s there were, in the Paris region , multiple instances of alleged and proved political corruption cases, as well as cases of abuse of public money and resources...
, and the Taiwan frigates scandal — Le Canard enchaîné
Le Canard enchaîné
Le Canard enchaîné is a satirical newspaper published weekly in France. Founded in 1915, it features investigative journalism and leaks from sources inside the French government, the French political world and the French business world, as well as many jokes and humorous cartoons.-Early...
have both been subjected to questions about executive pressure. These pressures on the judiciary system have been denounced by the judge's trade-union
Syndicat de la Magistrature
The Syndicat de la Magistrature is the French second largest magistrates trade union - in terms of membership - after the more conservative Union syndicale des magistrats....
.
The French government commission in 1998 claimed only 48 people died. The historian Jean-Luc Einaudi (La Bataille de Paris, Paris: Seuil, 1991) asserted that as many as 200 Algerians had been killed. The historian Jean-Paul Brunet found satisfactory evidence for the murder of 31 Algerians, while suggesting that a number of up to 50 actual victims was credible.
This contradicts David Assouline, who was granted in 1997 limited access to consult part of the police documents (which were supposed to be classified until 2012) by Minister of Culture
Minister of Culture (France)
The Minister of Culture is, in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of national museums and monuments; promoting and protecting the arts in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de culture"...
Catherine Trautmann
Catherine Trautmann
Catherine Trautmann is a former Minister of Culture of France and now Member of the European Parliament for the East of France.She was elected as mayor of Strasbourg in 1989, re-elected in 1995, then defeated in 2001....
(PS). He found a list of 70 persons killed, while the texts confirmed Einaudi's comments that the magistrates who had been called on by the victims' families to consider these incidents had systematically acquitted the policemen. According to Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
in 1997, which quoted the director of the Paris' Archives, the register would list 90 persons by the second half of October.
In a 2001 article in Esprit
Esprit (magazine)
Esprit is a French literary magazine. Founded in October 1932 by Emmanuel Mounier, it was the principal review of personalist intellectuals of the time. From 1957 to 1976, it was directed by Jean-Marie Domenach. Paul Thibaud directed it from 1977 to 1989. The philosopher Paul Ricoeur often...
, Paul Thibaud discussed the controversy between Jean-Luc Einaudi, who spoke of 200 killed on 17 October, and 325 killed by the police during the autumn of 1961, and Jean-Paul Brunet, who gave an estimate of only 50 (and 160 dead, possible homicide victims, who passed through the IML medico-legal institute during the four months between September and December 1961). Although criticizing Einaudi on some points, Thibaud also underlined that Brunet had consulted only police archives and took the registers of the IML medico-legal institute at face value. Based on other sources, Thibaud pointed out (as did Brunet) that administrative dissimulation about the dead had taken place, and that the IML could not be relied upon as sole source. Thibaud concluded that Einaudi's work made it possible to give an estimate of 300 Algerian victims of murder (whether by police or others) between 1 September and 31 December 1961.
The events surrounding the massacre and its death toll were largely unknown for decades. There was almost no media coverage at the time. These events remained unknown in part because they were overshadowed by the 8 February 1962 Charonne massacre, which did not involve exclusively Algerians, but also included French members of the Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
.
Reactions to the massacre
On 26 October 1961, Georges Montaron, editor of Témoignage Chrétien, Claude BourdetClaude Bourdet
Claude Bourdet , son of the dramatic author Édouard Bourdet, was a writer, journalist, polemist, and a militant French politician, who was born in 1909 and died in 1996 in Paris. He was a son of the poet Catherine Pozzi....
, editor of France Observateur, Emmanuel d'Astier de la Vigerie, editor of Libération
Libération
Libération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
, Avril, editor of Télérama
Télérama
Télérama is a weekly French magazine owned by Le Monde S.A. Its primary contents are television and radio listings, though the magazine also prints film, theatre, music and book reviews, as well as cover stories and feature articles of cultural interest. The name is a contraction of its earlier...
, parish priest Lochard, Jean-Marie Domenach
Jean-Marie Domenach
Jean-Marie Domenach was a French writer and intellectual. He was noted as a left-wing and Catholic thinker.He took over in 1957 the editorship of Esprit, the literary and political journal of personalism founded in 1945 by Emmanuel Mounier and continued from 1950 to 1957 by Albert Béguin...
, editor of Esprit
Esprit (magazine)
Esprit is a French literary magazine. Founded in October 1932 by Emmanuel Mounier, it was the principal review of personalist intellectuals of the time. From 1957 to 1976, it was directed by Jean-Marie Domenach. Paul Thibaud directed it from 1977 to 1989. The philosopher Paul Ricoeur often...
magazine, Jean Schaeffert and André Souquière organized in the Mutualité a meeting to "protest against police violences and the repression of the 17 October 1961 demonstration in Paris".
A few days later, some anonymous policemen published a text called A group of republican policemen declare... (Un groupe de policiers républicains déclarent...) on 31 October, stating:
"What happened on 17 October 1961 and in the following days against the peaceful demonstrators, on which no weapons were found, morally forces us to bring our testimony and to alert public opinion... All guilty people must be punished. The punishment must be extended to all of the responsible people, those who give orders, those who feign of letting it happen, whatever their high office may be... Among the thousands of Algerians brought to the Parc des Expositions of the Porte de Versailles, tens were killed by blows from rifle butts and pickaxe handles... In one of the extremity of the Neuilly bridge, groups of policemen on one side, CRSCompagnies Républicaines de SécuritéThe Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité are the riot control forces and general reserve of the French National Police. The CRS were created on 8 December 1944 and the first units were organised by 31 January 1945. The CRS were reorganized in 1948...
on the other, moved slowly towards each other. All the Algerians captured in this huge trap were knocked out and systematically thrown in the Seine. A good hundred people were subjected to this treatment... [In the Parisian police headquarters], torturers threw their victims by tens in the Seine which flows only a few meters from the courtyard, to keep them from being examined by the forensic scientists. Not before having taken their watches and money. Mr. Papon, prefect of the police, and Mr. Legay, general director of the municipal police, assisted to these horrible scenes... These indisputable facts are only a small part of what has happened in these last days and what continues to happen. They are known by the municipal police. The extortions committed by the harkis, the district special brigades, the brigades des aggressions et violences are not secret any more. The little information given by the newspapers is nothing compared to the truth... We do not sign this text and sincerely regret it. We observe, not without sadness, that the current circumstances do not allow us to do so..."
The anonymous authors remained so until the late 1990s although Maurice Papon tried to discover them. In February 1999, its main author, Emile Portzer, former member of the National Front
Front National (French Resistance)
The National Front was a World War II French Resistance movement, created in 1941 by Jacques Duclos and Pierre Villon, both members of the French Communist Party...
resistance organization during the war, testified in favor of historian Jean-Luc Einaudi during the trial which followed Papon's suit against him (won by Einaudi). On 1 January 1962, the police prefect Papon declared to the police forces under his orders: "On 17 October you won... the victory against Algerian terrorism... Your moral interests have been successfully defended, since the aim of the police prefecture's opponents to put in place an investigation committee have been defeated."
8 February 1962 Charonne massacre
On 8 February 1962, another demonstration against the OASOrganisation armée secrète
The Organisation de l'armée secrète was a short-lived, French far-right nationalist militant and underground organization during the Algerian War . The OAS used armed struggle in an attempt to prevent Algeria's independence...
, which had been prohibited by the state, was repressed at Charonne metro station
Charonne (Paris Metro)
Charonne is a station on line 9 of the Paris Métro. It was opened on 10 December 1933 with the extension of the line from Richelieu - Drouot to Porte de Montreuil....
. Nine members of the CGT trade union
Confédération générale du travail
The General Confederation of Labour is a national trade union center, the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions.It is the largest in terms of votes , and second largest in terms of membership numbers.Its membership decreased to 650,000 members in 1995-96 The General...
, most of them communists
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
, were killed by the police forces, directed by the same Maurice Papon under the same government, with Roger Frey
Roger Frey
Roger Frey was a French politician. He was Minister of the Interior and president of the Constitutional Council of France.-Monokini prosecution:...
as Minister of Interior, Michel Debré
Michel Debré
Michel Jean-Pierre Debré was a French Gaullist politician. He is considered the "father" of the current Constitution of France, and was the first Prime Minister of the Fifth Republic...
as Prime minister and Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
as president, who did all they could to "dissimulate the scale of the 17 October crime" (Jean-Luc Einaudi). The funerals on 13 February 1962 of the nine persons killed (among them, Fanny Dewerpe) were attended by hundreds of thousands of people. On 8 February 2007 the Place du 8 Février 1962
Place du 8 Février 1962
The Place du 8 Février 1962 is a public square located in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, specifically in the Charonne district, at the intersection of the Rue de Charonne and the Boulevard Voltaire....
, a square nearby the metro station was dedicated by Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë is a French politician, and has been the mayor of Paris since 2001. He is member of the Socialist Party . Delanoë was born in Tunis, Tunisia to a French-Tunisian father and a French mother...
, the mayor of Paris, after sprays of flowers were deposited at the foot of a commemorative plaque installed inside the metro station where the killings occurred.
Reporting
Despite the extent of the massacre and publicity surrounding the event - anecdotes tell of piles of bodies in the street, as well as bodies being found downriver for weeks afterwards - the paucity of objective press coverage at the time of the massacre was likely due to two factors: successful censorshipCensorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
of the media by several levels of the government
Government of France
The government of the French Republic is a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic"...
, and biased reporting
Media bias
Media bias refers to the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening the standards of journalism, rather than the...
by major media outlets in countries that were supportive of the French government's policy regarding Algeria. Some censorship was enforced by the Paris government because of concerns about responsibilities within the Paris police department for the massacre, while other censorship was enforced by the government because of concerns about its deteriorating position in the Algerian War. Furthermore, according to James J. Napoli, coverage of the massacre by major British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and American media sources, such as The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, TIME
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
magazine and The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, downplayed the severity of the massacre as well as the Paris government's responsibility for the events.
Recent events
The French government acknowledged in 1998 that the massacre occurred and that 40 people died in the massacre.No one has been prosecuted for participation in the killings, because they fell under the general amnesty for crimes committed during the Algerian War. This included on one side French police and military personnel; and on the other side various French (pro-independence, often communist) and Algerian fighters, for attacks on civilian targets such as cafés, which killed 3,000 civilians.
Forty years after the massacre, in 2001, the event was officially acknowledged by the city of Paris with the placement and unveiling of a memorial plaque near the Pont Saint-Michel
Pont Saint-Michel
Pont Saint-Michel is a bridge linking the Place Saint-Michel on the left bank of the river Seine to the Île de la Cité. It was named after the nearby chapel of Saint-Michel. It is near Sainte Chapelle and the Palais de Justice...
. This resulted from work by the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
local government. At the unveiling of the plaque, Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë is a French politician, and has been the mayor of Paris since 2001. He is member of the Socialist Party . Delanoë was born in Tunis, Tunisia to a French-Tunisian father and a French mother...
, the Socialist Party Mayor of Paris, cited the need for France to come to terms with this event in order to move forward with unity. Centrist and right-wing French politics
Politics of France
France is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, in which the President of France is head of state and the Prime Minister of France is the head of government, and there is a pluriform, multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is...
, as well as the police union, objected to the plaque on various grounds (increased threat of civil unrest, alleged tolerance of terrorism, and encouragement of disrespect for the police). On the other hand, historian Olivier LeCour Grandmaison
Olivier LeCour Grandmaison
Olivier LeCour Grandmaison is a French historian. He is a professor of political science at the Evry-Val d'Essonne University and also teach at the Collège International de Philosophie, and mainly works on colonialism issues...
, president of the 17 October 1961 Association, declared to L'Humanité
L'Humanité
L'Humanité , formerly the daily newspaper linked to the French Communist Party , was founded in 1904 by Jean Jaurès, a leader of the French Section of the Workers' International...
that "if a step forward had been taken with the decision of the Parisian' townhall to put a commemorative plate on the Pont Saint-Michel, [he] deplored that the text which was chosen for it brings about neither the idea of a crime against humanity
Crime against humanity
Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings...
nor the responsibility of the author of the crime, the state. Under no excuse does this Parisian initiative exempts the highest national authorities of taking their responsibilities. In the same manner, if [former Socialist Prime minister] Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
personally expressed himself last year [in 2000] talking about "tragic events", neither the police's responsibility in the crime nor the responsibility of the political responsibles at the time have been clearly established and much less officially condemned."
The massacre in popular culture
- The massacre was prominently referenced in CachéCaché (film)Caché is a 2005 Austrian-French film written and directed by Michael Haneke. It stars Daniel Auteuil as Georges and Juliette Binoche as his wife Anne.-Plot:...
, a 2005 film by Michael HanekeMichael HanekeMichael Haneke is a German born Austrian filmmaker and writer best known for his bleak and disturbing style. His films often document problems and failures in modern society. Haneke has worked in television‚ theatre and cinema. He is also known for raising social issues in his work...
.
- The 2005 French television drama-documentary Nuit noire, 17 octobre 1961 explores in detail the events of the massacre. It follows the lives of several people and also shows some of the divisions within the Paris police, with some openly arguing for more violence while others tried to uphold the rule of law.
- Drowning by Bullets, a television documentary in the British Secret History series, first shown on 13 July 1992.
- The massacre is described in the opening verse of Irish punk rock band Stiff Little FingersStiff Little FingersStiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977, at the height of the Troubles. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star , doing rock covers, until they discovered punk. They split up after six years and four albums, although they...
song 'When The Stars Fall From The Sky'.
- French rapper Médine dedicates a whole song to the massacre on his album Table d'écoute.
- It forms the core of Didier DaeninckxDidier DaeninckxDidier Daeninckx is a French author and left-wing politician, best known for his romans noirs. He frequently uses fictional settings to transport social critique; his writings are characterized by a sobering social realism...
' 1984 thriller Meurtres pour mémoire, which is also the first attempt to mine the archives of the massacre through the form of a fictional enquiry. However, expatriate American novelist and journalist William Gardner SmithWilliam Gardner SmithWilliam Gardner Smith was an American journalist, novelist, and editor. Smith is linked to the black social protest novel tradition of the 1940s and the 1950s, a movement that became synonymous with writers such as Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Willard Motley, and Ann Petry...
's 1963 novel The Stone Face, is now recognized as the earliest known fictional treatment of the events surrounding this infamous event. Although the "body count" of this massacre is listed in many places (including this Wikipedia article) at 140 dead or missing, writer and social critic Kristin RossKristin RossKristin Ross is a professor of comparative literature at New York University. She is primarily known for her work on French literature and culture of the 19th and 20th centuries. -Life and work:Ross received her Ph.D...
points out otherwise while invoking Smith's and Daeninckx's work:
Sources and bibliography
- In English:
- Martin S. Alexander / J. F. V. Keiger: France and the Algerian War, 1954-62: Strategy, Operations and Diplomacy. S. 24, 2002, ISBN 0-7146-5297-0
- Jean-Paul Brunet, « Police Violence in Paris, October 1961 : Historical Sources, Methods and Conclusions », The Historical Journal, 51, 1 (2008), p. 195–204.
- Patrice J Proulx / Susan Ireland (Hrsg.): Immigrant Narratives in Contemporary France. S. 47-55, 2001, ISBN 0-313-31593-0
- Jim House, Neil MacMaster (2006). Paris 1961: Algerians, State Terror, and Memory, Oxford: O. University Press, 2006 ISBN 0199247250
- Jim House, Neil MacMaster, « Time to move on : a reply to Jean-Paul Brunet », The Historical Journal, 51, 1 (2008), p. 205–214.
- In French:
- Jean-Paul Brunet, Police Contre FLN: Le drame d'octobre 1961, Paris: Flammarion, 1999, 354 p.
- Jean-Paul Brunet, Charonne. Lumières sur une tragédie, Paris: Flammarion, 2003, 336 p.
- Didier Daeninckx: Meurtres pour mémoire, 1984, ISBN 2-07-040649-0 (novel)
- Alain Dewerpe, Charonne, 8 février 1962. Anthropologie historique d'un massacre d'Etat, Gallimard, 2006, 870p.
- Jean-Luc Einaudi: La bataille de Paris: 17 octobre 1961, 1991, ISBN 2-02-013547-7
- Jean-Luc Einaudi and Maurice Rajsfus, Les silences de la police - 16 juillet 1942, 17 octobre 1961, 2001, L'Esprit frappeurL'Esprit frappeurL'Esprit frappeur , is a French publishing house, specialized in low-cost books. Before the change to euros, it used to sell its books for 10 or 20 Francs; they now cost between 2,5 euros and 5 euros...
, ISBN 2-84405-173-1 (Rajsfus is a historian of the French police, the first date refers to the 16 July 1942 Rafle du Vel' d'Hiv) - Olivier LeCour GrandmaisonOlivier LeCour GrandmaisonOlivier LeCour Grandmaison is a French historian. He is a professor of political science at the Evry-Val d'Essonne University and also teach at the Collège International de Philosophie, and mainly works on colonialism issues...
, Le 17 octobre 1961 - Un crime d’État à Paris, collectif, Éditions La Dispute, 2001. - Sylvie Thénault, « Le fantasme du secret d'État autour du 17 octobre 1961 », Matériaux pour l'histoire de notre temps, n°58, April-June 2000, p. 70-76.
- Paul Thibaud, "17 Octobre 1961: un moment de notre histoire," in EspritEsprit (magazine)Esprit is a French literary magazine. Founded in October 1932 by Emmanuel Mounier, it was the principal review of personalist intellectuals of the time. From 1957 to 1976, it was directed by Jean-Marie Domenach. Paul Thibaud directed it from 1977 to 1989. The philosopher Paul Ricoeur often...
, November 2001 (concerning the debate between Einaudi and Brunet)
External links
- The Washington Report on the Middle East: The 1961 Massacre of Algerians in Paris: When the media failed the test
- University of Sussex Journal of Contemporary History: World Reactions to the 1961 Paris Pogrom
- Flame: 35 Years ago the "Battle of Paris": When the Seine was full of bodies
- Flame: Papon and the killing of 200 Algerians in Paris during 1961
- Pont Saint Michel (Saint Michel Bridge)
- BBC report
- Un criminel s'en va dans l'impunité?, El WatanEl WatanEl Watan is an independent newspaper in Algeria. The paper was founded in 1990 after Omar Belhouchet and nineteen colleagues left the FLN government-owned newspaper El Moudjahid ....
, 19 February 2007 - Guardian article on 50th anniversary
- Interview with historian Alain Dewerpe on his book Charonne, 8 février 1962. Anthropologie historique d'un massacre d'Etat, available on the website of the French intellectual review Vacarme.
- A list, necessarily incomplete, of the dead or missing (currently numbering 140).