The funeral vigil took place on the very site of his execution by the Nazis, 80 years earlier, at the age of 37. Resistance fighter Missak Manouchian was in the spotlight on Tuesday February 20 at Mont-Valérien, in Hauts-de-Seine. A ceremony organized by the State Secretariat for Veterans, the day before the burial of this communist poet of Armenian origin at the Pantheon, alongside his wife Mélinée. Several hundred people attended the event.
The coffin followed the path of the fighter's last moments, from the chapel to the clearing of the murdered.
Soldiers transport the remains of Missak Manouchian, hero of the French resistance, for the funeral vigil which takes place the day before his entry into the Pantheon, on February 20, 2024. © AFP - STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / ECPAD
La Marseillaise on Mont-Valérien
After the arrival of the remains, covered with a French flag, the Marseillaise then the Chant des Partisans, a famous anthem of resistance, resonated on Mont-Valérien.
The coffin of Missak Manouchian arrives at Mont-Valérien, the place where he was shot by the Nazis, 80 years ago, for a funeral wake. © AFP - STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / ECPAD
The event, chaired by Patricia Mirallès, Secretary of State for Veterans, was held in the presence of several members of the government, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, communist political leaders as well as families of resistance fighters .
“This vigil brings what our youth needs to see: courageous people who embraced France and fought for freedom,” she said.
The Secretary of State for Veterans, Patricia Mirallès, chaired the vigil in tribute to Missak Manouchian. Questioned by Franceinfo, she welcomed a “strong and lively” moment and felt that this vigil “brings what our youth needs to see”. AFP - STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN
The assembly observed a minute of silence in tribute to this figure in the fight against the Nazi occupation, who distinguished himself at the head of a very active network before being arrested and shot with his comrades. His pantheonization aims to honor all “communist and foreign resistance”, according to details from the Elysée.
Read alsoThe entry of Missak Manouchian into the Pantheon, a tribute to all foreign resistance fighters
After reading the fighter's last letter to his wife Mélinée, the names of Missak Manouchian's 22 fellow fighters, who made up the group of Francs-tireurs and supporters of immigrant labor, the FTP-MOI, were called. Their name will also be inscribed in the Pantheon.
Framing the coffin, teenagers hold portraits of Missak Manouchian's fellow fighters. These members of the FTP-MOI, a group of foreign resistance fighters, were shot alongside him on February 21, 1944. © AFP - STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / ECPAD
Five searchlights aimed at the sky had been installed at the precise location where the execution posts stood. A few hours before her death, Missak Manouchian declared that she felt "no hatred against the German people or against anyone."
Soldiers carry the coffin of Missak Manouchian through the clearing of the executed, where he was executed by Nazi soldiers along with his resistance comrades. The searchlights aimed towards the sky are installed where the execution posts stood. © AFP - STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / ECPAD
After this moment of contemplation, the coffin was exhibited on the esplanade of the Combatant France Memorial, before returning to the crypt for the night. And to be moved again, from Wednesday February 21, to the Pantheon, his final resting place.
With AFP
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