He is the son of Joseph Epstein, alias “Colonel Gilles”, a leader of the FTP-MOI (Francs-tireurs et partisans – Immigrant workforce), arrested with Missak Manouchian and shot at Mont Valérien in 1944 after weeks of torture. On Wednesday February 21, his father’s name will be engraved in vault 13 of the Pantheon alongside his partners in the Red Poster struggle, including the Armenian communist resistance fighter Missak Manouchian and his wife Mélinée. A national ceremony in front of an audience of political leaders, including Marine Le Pen, the boss of the National Rally. An affront, believes Georges Duffau-Epstein, who calls for her not to participate in the pantheonization of the 23 heroes who died for France.
L’Express: Why are you asking Marine Le Pen not to participate in the pantheonization of Missak Manouchian?
Georges Duffau-Epstein: The ideas it defends, national preference, and the expulsion of illegal immigrants in particular, are in complete contradiction with the values of the resistance. I cannot forget that my parents were of Polish origin, that they came to France, the country of freedom and the Revolution, and that they were welcomed with open arms. My father resisted and died for France. She has no place near him and the immigrant resistance fighters who died for France.
What message would his presence send?
I can clearly see that she is seeking, with this presence, to continue her work of demonization. She thinks she’s the head of a normal party, but that’s a lie. She would like to expel undocumented immigrants and at the same time pay homage to Missak Manouchian who was a stateless person? This is doublespeak. She should have the decency not to come as she did not come to the national tribute to Robert Badinter.
But many believe that the FN was founded by resistance fighters and that it therefore has its place there…
First of all, I don’t like the term FN. The one and only National Front that existed was the resistance organization created by the French Communist Party in May 1941. I have not forgotten the anti-Semitic jokes of his father Jean-Marie Le Pen, the “Durafour crematoire » and the others, and the Nazi salutes of the members of the RN. I know that there were resistance fighters who lost their way after the war, but the business of this party was and is Vichy. Those who created the RN were on the side of Pétain, of those who shot my father.
Millions of French people, including workers who were on the left and notably communists before, are voting for her today. Do you regret it?
I am not a politician, I am a memory activist. Yes, I regret that there are so many workers who are wrong in their vote, but that is the game of democracy. I will never give him my vote because I defend the values of resistance, democracy, social progress, and the fight against all racism. I do not forget the past, the struggles of my father and Missak Manouchian, and I know that Marine Le Pen’s theses combat this. My subject is to ensure that the values of the resistance remain the values of today.
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