Attacks of November 13: very symbolic commemorations, in full trial

Prime Minister Jean Castex and the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo participated in the ceremony in tribute to the victims of November 13 in front of the Le Bataclan concert hall in Paris on November 13, 2021. REUTERS - POOL

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3 min

Several tributes were paid this Saturday in Paris and Saint-Denis, to commemorate the attacks of November 13, 2015, at the time when the trial of these attacks is taking place, which is testing the victims and shaping the collective memory.

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Accompanied in particular by the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, French Prime Minister Jean Castex began the tour of tributes with a wreath laying followed by a minute of silence in front of the Stade de France.

They then went to the café terraces of the 10th and 11th arrondissements and the Bataclan concert hall, where commandos guided by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) had killed 130 people and left more than 400 wounded in 2015, sowing dread in the country.

In front of the Bataclan, the emotion was high.

The survivors and the relatives of the victims listened with emotion to the resounding in the grayness of the name of each of the 90 people who perished in the concert hall.

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After this ceremony reserved for the victims, their families and officials, the residents were able to reflect in their turn. Martine, a resident of the neighborhood, came as every year to place a bouquet of white roses in front of the commemorative plaque. She can't seem to forget that horrific day. “ 

she said, shaking with sobs. “ 

 "

The Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris, who ends a four-day visit to France on Saturday, deposited a bouquet of white flowers shortly after noon in front of the terrace of the bar Le Carillon.

She then crossed the street to enter the facility briefly.

This series of tributes will end in the evening with the minute of silence which must be observed just before the kick-off of the France-Kazakhstan match at the Parc des Princes in Paris.

"The need to be together"

After a ceremony without an audience in 2020 because of the pandemic, the commemoration

this year seems more important than ever, in parallel with a

which has revived since September the memory of the most deadly terrorist attack ever committed in France.

For five weeks, 350 victims took the stand to tell this horror night.

Post-traumatic stress disorder, survivor's guilt, persistent gap with the rest of society ... These testimonies have revealed the indelible scars and the extent of the psychological damage of these attacks on hundreds of shattered lives.

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To face the rest of the trial, which is to continue until the end of May, " 

 ", summarizes Arthur Dénouveaux, the president of the association of victims Life for Paris. His association registered about fifty more participants than last year at the ceremony it is organizing at the town hall of the 11th arrondissement. " 

", confirms Philippe Duperron, president of the other association of victims, 13onze15 Fraternité et Truth. It also recorded more registrants than in previous years for the lunch following the official ceremony. 

This year, " 

", observes historian Denis Peschanski, co-responsible for the "November 13 Program", a vast research project that studies the evolution of memory of the attacks over ten years.

The hearing days and their transcription in the press "

" and made it possible " 

 ", he notes.

The trial continues until the end of May.

(With

AFP

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• Trial of the November 13 attacks

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