WEBVTT

00:01:42.969 --> 00:01:45.972
Aouam Messaoud
what was one of scores of Algerians

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who disappeared in Paris
on the night of October the 17th,

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1961.

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That evening, a peaceful demonstration
by the Algerian community

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against a nighttime curfew
was broken up by the Paris police.

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Thousands were arrested.

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The terrible story of what happened
to those Algerians in the hours

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and days that followed was
immediately suppressed

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by the French government.

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At the time, attempts to publicize

00:02:21.407 --> 00:02:25.178
their fate were banned
and even today, the cover up continues.

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Jacques Panijel was one of
those whose work was censored

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In 1961, the French government
was fighting a bitter

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and savage war against the Algerian
National Liberation Front.

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The FLN.

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Thousands of young Frenchmen
and hundreds of thousands of Algerians

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had died in the seven-year-old war.

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While it was difficult
to ignore the conflict

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for most Parisians,
life seemed to go on as normal.

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But it was a different story

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for the 150,000 or so Algerians

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who lived in squalor and fear in huge
shantytowns

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and slums around the French Capital.

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Many of these immigrant workers
supported the FLN

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and willingly or unwillingly, provided
80% of the organization\'s finances.

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On October the 17th,
when the FLN ordered them

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to march to the center of Paris
to protest against the curfew

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imposed on all Algerians,
thousands cheerfully heeded its call.

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As the first demonstrators arrived

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early that evening at the metro station
beneath the Arc de Triomphe.

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They were met by scores of police.

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None of the violence

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was shown on state run French television.

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The only images were of demonstrators
being arrested

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and led to police vans and
requisitioned buses.

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Idir Bel Kacem was among them.

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Two miles away next to Notre Dame
Cathedral.

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Demonstrators had formed a procession
to cross the Pont Saint Michel.

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Fearing violence,
one of them stepped forward

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to this door of Paris police headquarters.

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The demonstrators were shocked
by the extraordinary violence

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that the police used

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from very early on in the evening
to prevent them reaching Paris.

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But in the autumn of 1961,

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the Algerians were no strangers
to violence.

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On paper, they were French citizens.

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For Algeria was officially part of France,

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but anyone with black curly hair
and dark eyes was viewed

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with suspicion by the authorities
and by much of the population,

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as a fifth column for the FLN’s
rebellion.

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Hundreds of Algerians
were arrested every day,

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and this Algerian area of Paris,
the 18th arrondissement,

00:09:07.912 --> 00:09:10.582
was notorious for widespread torture.

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Some of the worst brutalities were carried out

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by the feared Harkis,

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a special unit of the police
made up exclusively of Algerians

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and controlled by French officers.

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By 1961, George Moulinet,
a policeman in this district,

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was familiar with the Harki\'s methods.

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Faced with this

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widespread torture
and murder of its sympathizers,

00:10:54.485 --> 00:10:56.020
the FLN hit back.

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Over a three year period,

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it assassinated some 36 policemen,
causing outrage

00:11:01.959 --> 00:11:04.929
and fear in the ranks of the Paris police.

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In 1961, one of the top French policemen
heading the fight against the FLN

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was Roger Chaix,

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then in charge of the Paris
police\'s section on Algerian affairs.

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General de Gaulle dominated French politics.

00:11:42.800 --> 00:11:46.504
He returned to power in 1958
to keep Algeria French,

00:11:46.737 --> 00:11:49.841
but now sought to end the war,
realizing it blocked

00:11:49.841 --> 00:11:52.844
his dreams of greater
French influence in the world.

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But the peace talks

00:12:09.493 --> 00:12:13.264
with the FLN, begun in May 1961,
broke down

00:12:13.264 --> 00:12:16.901
two months later, and in Paris
there was a spiral of violence

00:12:17.368 --> 00:12:21.339
in little more than a month,
the FLN killed another 11 policemen

00:12:23.841 --> 00:12:26.477
As an angry police force buried its dead,

00:12:26.477 --> 00:12:30.715
their chief, Maurice Papon,
persuaded the government to order a curfew

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designed to deal a fatal blow to the FLN.

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From October
the fifth, all Algerians were to be off

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the streets from dusk till dawn.

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Funds from the immigrant community
immediately began to dry up,

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causing a crisis for the FLN.

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The organization\'s political

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and military chief in France was
Omar Boudaoud.

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He now lives in Algiers

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Demonstrators were searched by the FLN
to ensure they were carrying no weapons.

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The organization had never before
dared to demonstrate in Paris,

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and now it was sending its supporters
to the heart of the city

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to deliberately break the night curfew.

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Constantin Melnik was then in charge of police

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and intelligence matters
at the prime minister\'s office.

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Police chief Papon had received
the government green light

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for a massive operation
to counter the protest.

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Thousands of police
were put on the streets.

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It was already clear to journalists
that the authorities were hoping

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to prevent any reporting
of what was to happen that night.

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Newsmen were warned away
and this was to be

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ITN\'s only broadcast that day from Paris.

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Late tonight, thousands of the Algerians
will live in Paris.

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Men, women and children
will stage their largest demonstration yet

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against police restrictions,
but it will be held almost in secret.

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The Paris police are in a cold fury
at the number of their dead

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allow little publication
of their methods of repression.

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Cameramen
who show themselves will be arrested.

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But there were a handful

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of journalists willing to brave the ban.

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Among them was photographer Elie Kagan.

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It was going to be impossible to keep
what was happening completely secret.

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In the heart of Paris,
opposite police headquarters,

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one of the witnesses
was Daniel Mermet,

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now a radio journalist.

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What Daniel Mermet saw at Saint Michel

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was never reported in the media.

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But a few miles away, here on the Grands
Boulevards

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in full view of the offices
of two national daily newspapers,

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it was a different story.

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With eyewitnesses like Elie Kagan

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and journalist Jacques Derogy,

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the authorities could not deny
that deaths had occurred.

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They issued a communique
saying that just two Algerians had died

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and blamed the violence on the FLN.

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The official story of two deaths
was meant to suggest

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that this was just a street protest
that had got out of hand.

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Journalists that only seen deaths

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at widely separated places, Saint Michel

00:22:07.089 --> 00:22:09.592
outside the Rex and at Nanterre

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and couldn\'t immediately refute the story.

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In fact,
much more violence was taking place

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where the only witnesses
were the police themselves.

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Among them was Officer Paul Rousseau.

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No policeman was hit by bullets
that night.

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Nor would they suffer
any serious injuries.

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But one flashpoint for the police
was the Pont Neuilly,

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where hundreds of Algerians
were trying to cross the Seine

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and march towards the Champs Elysees.

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What happened there
has led to a serious conflict of evidence

00:24:10.446 --> 00:24:14.283
between those in charge of operations
at the police headquarters and

00:24:14.283 --> 00:24:17.753
policeman Michel Gibier,
who was on the bridge at the time.

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The very same story was put out that night

00:25:28.991 --> 00:25:31.994
by police chief Maurice Papon.

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Today, Papon was accused of helping

00:25:35.230 --> 00:25:38.233
the Germans deport Jews from France.

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But at that time he was continuing
a brilliant career in high office,

00:25:42.604 --> 00:25:45.874
having won decorations in Algeria
for his tough stand

00:25:45.874 --> 00:25:48.877
against the FLN.

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Now, back in Paris,

00:25:51.546 --> 00:25:54.649
Papa faced a wave of attacks
from the same enemy

00:25:55.650 --> 00:26:01.089
In the days before October the 17th,
he toured police stations to raise morale.

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During one of these visits,

00:26:04.426 --> 00:26:06.661
André Hulot was on duty.

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Now Maurice Papon had under his
control hundreds of Algerians

00:27:11.226 --> 00:27:14.863
packed into the central courtyard
at the police headquarters itself.

00:27:15.764 --> 00:27:19.100
What happened
there late that night went on in full view

00:27:19.100 --> 00:27:21.536
of the top brass of the Paris police.

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Confirmation that something terrible

00:28:30.338 --> 00:28:33.575
had occurred at the police headquarters
came later that night.

00:28:34.209 --> 00:28:38.046
Claude Bourdet was editing the next issue
of the influential weekly,

00:28:38.046 --> 00:28:41.950
France Observateur,
when he received an unexpected visit.

00:29:28.429 --> 00:29:30.932
By the morning after the demonstration,

00:29:30.932 --> 00:29:34.869
more than 11,000 Algerians
had been arrested and transferred

00:29:34.869 --> 00:29:37.872
to detention camps
and stadiums around Paris.

00:29:39.040 --> 00:29:41.642
These were controlled
not only by the police,

00:29:41.642 --> 00:29:44.679
but also by the military
who\'d been called in that night

00:29:44.679 --> 00:29:47.682
to back them up.

00:29:56.924 --> 00:30:01.129
Gerard Grange, then a trainee priest
doing his military service,

00:30:01.662 --> 00:30:04.665
was ordered to the Palais des Sports,
a well-known concert hall.

00:31:18.139 --> 00:31:20.508
What was happening at
the Palais des Sports

00:31:20.508 --> 00:31:22.276
went on for days and nights.

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The Army Medical Corps was called in
so as to avoid any chance of civilians

00:31:27.281 --> 00:31:30.284
knowing the extent of the Algerian’s
injuries.

00:31:30.384 --> 00:31:35.556
In 1961, Isidore Lifschitz was doing
his military service as a nurse.

00:32:31.745 --> 00:32:35.015
With reports of
50 dead at the police headquarters

00:32:35.015 --> 00:32:38.986
and of Algerians killed
and severely injured at Stade Coubertin

00:32:38.986 --> 00:32:40.854
the Palais des Sports and Vincennes,

00:32:41.188 --> 00:32:45.092
It\'s clear that a massacre
was taking place behind closed doors.

00:32:45.659 --> 00:32:48.662
But all that was shown on
television were reassuring images

00:32:48.929 --> 00:32:52.032
of so-called troublemakers
being expelled to Algeria.

00:32:54.602 --> 00:32:56.804
While the killings went on in secret,

00:32:56.804 --> 00:33:01.141
most newspapers faithfully reported
the government line of only two dead.

00:33:01.809 --> 00:33:05.946
Police Chief Papon, in overall
command of the stadiums and camps,

00:33:05.946 --> 00:33:10.718
refused entry to journalists investigating rumors
that scores had been killed.

00:34:06.206 --> 00:34:09.309
For journalists
trying to discover the true death toll

00:34:09.510 --> 00:34:12.679
the biggest problem was they could find
few bodies.

00:34:12.980 --> 00:34:15.182
People had simply disappeared.

00:34:15.482 --> 00:34:18.485
One of them was Zora and Louisa
Bedar’s sister.

00:34:18.886 --> 00:34:21.889
Fatima Matar was only 15.

00:35:47.774 --> 00:35:51.278
Two weeks later,
Fatima\'s body was found in a canal.

00:35:54.748 --> 00:35:57.818
Now dozens
of corpses were floating to the surface.

00:35:58.185 --> 00:36:01.221
And at the prime minister\'s office,
Constantin Melnik

00:36:01.221 --> 00:36:03.957
began his own inquiries.

00:36:55.241 --> 00:36:59.379
The FLN began compiling
its own list of the disappeared.

00:37:00.814 --> 00:37:03.316
The inquiries were led by
Ali Haroun,

00:37:03.316 --> 00:37:06.419
then a top leader of the French
Federation of the FLN,

00:37:06.519 --> 00:37:09.522
and now a member of Algeria\'s
ruling council.

00:37:41.988 --> 00:37:44.991
The exact death toll will never be known,

00:37:45.125 --> 00:37:48.928
but today, 200 does seem
a reliable estimate.

00:37:50.864 --> 00:37:52.665
Some bodies were simply dumped

00:37:52.665 --> 00:37:55.802
in this unmarked common
grave outside the city.

00:38:00.373 --> 00:38:01.307
But the massacre

00:38:01.307 --> 00:38:04.811
had taken place in Paris
in front of witnesses.

00:38:05.445 --> 00:38:07.547
So how was it covered up?

00:38:33.206 --> 00:38:35.475
To convince people of the truth,

00:38:35.475 --> 00:38:38.478
one filmmaker began his own documentary.

00:38:40.113 --> 00:38:42.782
The search for proof brought
Jacques Panijel

00:38:42.782 --> 00:38:44.851
to the banks of the Seine.

00:39:22.088 --> 00:39:25.224
With the philosopher
Jean-Paul Sartre and other intellectuals,

00:39:25.491 --> 00:39:28.461
Jacques Panijel organized a
demonstration to denounce

00:39:28.461 --> 00:39:29.796
the massacre.

00:39:32.665 --> 00:39:35.701
The protests were taken up
by a few senators who called

00:39:35.701 --> 00:39:38.938
for a commission of inquiry,
a demand outvoted by

00:39:38.938 --> 00:39:41.007
de Gaulle\'s massive majority.

00:39:43.843 --> 00:39:47.180
But there were a few papers
that continued to campaign against

00:39:47.180 --> 00:39:51.184
Maurice Papon, publishing photographs
and reports from eyewitnesses.

00:39:51.484 --> 00:39:52.552
At City Hall,

00:39:52.552 --> 00:39:55.555
this led to a clash between
Councillor Claude Bourdet

00:39:55.555 --> 00:39:57.223
and the Paris police chief.

00:41:00.519 --> 00:41:04.156
In his 1962 New Year\'s
message to the police,

00:41:04.156 --> 00:41:05.958
Maurice Papon boasted,

00:41:06.258 --> 00:41:08.594
“The intention of opponents
of the police

00:41:08.594 --> 00:41:11.931
to hold a commission of inquiry
has been thwarted.”

00:41:16.202 --> 00:41:18.337
But was the aim of the cover up merely

00:41:18.337 --> 00:41:21.340
to protect Maurice Papon
and his police force,

00:41:21.340 --> 00:41:24.009
or did the real responsibility lie
higher up

00:41:24.009 --> 00:41:26.111
with Papa\'s political masters,

00:41:26.111 --> 00:41:29.114
then deeply divided over Algeria?

00:41:32.017 --> 00:41:35.688
That summer, Prime Minister
Michel Debre had even threatened

00:41:35.688 --> 00:41:39.625
to resign over concessions
being made by de Gaulle to the FLN.

00:42:54.867 --> 00:42:57.102
While it is clear that
de Gaulle\'s government

00:42:57.102 --> 00:42:59.605
did approve a massive
crackdown that night,

00:42:59.972 --> 00:43:02.908
there is no direct evidence
that they ordered a massacre.

00:43:03.776 --> 00:43:06.545
For the authorities, it was
simply one more episode

00:43:06.545 --> 00:43:08.814
in a very cruel conflict.

00:43:17.790 --> 00:43:18.791
What is certain

00:43:18.791 --> 00:43:22.327
is that when the daily brutality
of the war came to Paris,

00:43:22.628 --> 00:43:25.764
the authorities turned a blind eye
to the fury

00:43:25.764 --> 00:43:27.566
of their police force.

00:44:22.688 --> 00:44:26.391
While ultimate responsibility
for allowing the massacre to happen

00:44:26.391 --> 00:44:27.592
lay with the government,

00:44:27.659 --> 00:44:30.629
responsibility for then allowing
it to be forgotten

00:44:30.829 --> 00:44:33.699
must lie with the traditional
parties of the left,

00:44:33.699 --> 00:44:35.333
which knew what had taken place,

00:44:35.333 --> 00:44:37.536
but never made it a political issue.

00:44:38.737 --> 00:44:41.139
The Communist Party
then had the backing of one

00:44:41.139 --> 00:44:43.041
in four of the French electorate

00:44:43.041 --> 00:44:46.044
and the loyalty
of a large part of the working class.

00:45:18.210 --> 00:45:19.678
Just months later

00:45:19.678 --> 00:45:23.248
an event took place
which for this powerful French left

00:45:23.448 --> 00:45:26.618
completely overshadowed
the massacre of Algerians.

00:45:28.220 --> 00:45:30.622
The extreme right wing OAS attempted

00:45:30.622 --> 00:45:35.060
to block Algerian independence
with a wave of terrorist attacks in Paris.

00:45:35.794 --> 00:45:38.830
The Communist Party called
for massive street protests.

00:45:39.698 --> 00:45:43.435
On February the eighth, 1962,
at Charonne Metro Station,

00:45:43.868 --> 00:45:46.838
ten demonstrators
were killed by the police.

00:45:46.938 --> 00:45:49.474
All were French, all Communist.

00:45:54.112 --> 00:45:57.115
Half a million people
attended their funerals.

00:45:57.816 --> 00:46:00.352
The deaths at Charonne
have been a symbol for the

00:46:00.352 --> 00:46:02.654
French left ever since.

00:46:04.723 --> 00:46:06.191
As time has passed,

00:46:06.191 --> 00:46:10.095
the memory of Charonne has
overwhelmed that of October the 17th.

00:46:10.495 --> 00:46:13.431
Even among the
Algerian community in Paris.

00:46:18.503 --> 00:46:20.238
In the Bedar family,

00:46:20.238 --> 00:46:23.508
what happened to
Fatima was just never talked about.

00:46:50.869 --> 00:46:55.039
A few months after Charonne,
Algeria became independent.

00:46:55.607 --> 00:46:57.575
Its new rulers had little interest

00:46:57.575 --> 00:47:00.612
in what had happened in France
during the liberation struggle.

00:47:01.179 --> 00:47:04.048
And not until last year was
October the 17th

00:47:04.048 --> 00:47:07.051
celebrated as a national day in Algeria.

00:47:07.385 --> 00:47:09.654
Some still have bitter memories.

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Today in France,

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few people know what happened on
October the 17th, 1961.

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It\'s a forgotten event,

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part of a collective amnesia about
the war in Algeria,

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from which the French
are only just beginning to emerge.

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Last year,

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with the rise of racism
and extremism in Europe,

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the massacre was commemorated in Paris
for the first time.

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Demonstrators warned that 30 years earlier

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it had been just as unthinkable as today,
that such an event

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could take place
in the capital of a Western democracy.

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Jack Panijel made his film

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to warn that the
unthinkable could happen.

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But 30 years after its completion,
the film has still to be

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shown on French television.

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Even today, October the 17th

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still has no place in official
French history.