Emmanuel Macron asks “forgiveness” from the harkis by recognizing their “singularity in the history of France”

There is this silence, heavy with meaning, which accompanies the entry of the Head of State into the village hall of the Elysee. A silence full of pain, mistrust, anger but also hope. A silence that reminds us that the Algerian war and its consequences still torment so many minds. Monday, September 20, five days before the day of homage which is nevertheless devoted to them, Emmanuel Macron wanted to alleviate the suffering of the harkis and their descendants, by receiving them with honor in this symbolic place. It is in the heart of the Palace of the Republic that he chose to tell them ” sorry “.

But before hearing this word, the 120 or so guests wondered what the President of the Republic was going to tell them. What could he say to these auxiliaries engaged in the French army who were abandoned with their families by the State after the end of the conflict in 1962? Before speaking, Emmanuel Macron wanted to listen to them by allowing four of them to tell their story which “Remains too little known to the French”.

We can retain the powerful speech of journalist Dalila Kerchouche. The author of My father, this harki (published in 2003 in Le Seuil) describes his childhood in the camps where thousands of families were locked up when they arrived in France, nearly sixty years ago. “My family left the camp in 1974. Traumatized, marginalized and bruised forever, she tells the head of state. Nothing will give me back my brother, who committed suicide at 35 because he spent all his childhood behind the barbed wire at Bias camp [Lot-et-Garonne]. “

M^me Kerchouche regrets that his recently deceased parents are “Left without knowing why they were locked up for so long behind barbed wire”. “This tragedy is sullying our democracy. The tragedy of the harkis is irreparable ”, she added before concluding that it is now necessary “Repair the living” in order to “Liberate future generations from this legacy of tears and suffering”.

“A collective stage”

The guests stand up to applaud him. At the back of the room, a man shouts: “Shame on France! “ Then, a girl from Harki calls out: “France, she abandoned her soldiers and her children. “

It is Mr. Macron’s turn to speak. By settling behind the desk, he removes the plaque on which is written “Homage to the harkis”. “You have paid homage yourselves, to your fathers, your brothers. I will try that together, we take a collective step “, he says.

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