The stateless poet Missak Manouchian and his wife Mélinée as well as 23 of his comrades-in-arms enter the Panthéon in Paris this Wednesday, February 21. 80 years after their death, this event is France’s ultimate recognition of these symbols of foreign resistance in France.
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“ A Frenchman preferably “, this is how the Élysée describes Missak Manouchian who enters this Wednesday with his wife the Pantheon, a republican sanctuary whose motto, “To great men the grateful fatherland”, adorns the pediment. A message which is not neutral in a France divided by the debate on immigration.
Born in Türkiye in an Armenian family, Missak Manouchian died stateless after having applied twice for French nationality, without success. And yet, it is to defend the France that he sacrificed his life by joining the resistance in the name of the values of his country of heart.
Read alsoMissak and Mélinée Manouchian, symbols of foreign resistance in France
Presence of the far right
With Missak Manouchian and his wife Mélinée, it is also the 23 fighters from his resistance group, shot with him at Mont-Valérien, who enter the Pantheon in a symbolic way. They were of various nationalities and religions. Honoring them is, for the President of the Republic, a reminder “ that being French is not due to origin, but to will “.
A barely hidden message to the far right because the presence of Marine Le Pen, invited as head of the National Rally group to the Assembly as during previous national tributes, caused controversy. It’s even ” unacceptable ” And ” intolerable “, deplore the committee supporting the pantheonization of Missak Manouchian and the families, who accuse the National Front, of which the RN is the heir, of having been founded by “ Nazis and collaborationists “.
Emmanuel Macron also took a position, believing that “ far-right forces would be inspired not to be present given the nature of Manouchian’s fight “, that is to say the ” communist and foreign resistance » to which France pays tribute today.
Read alsoMissak and Mélinée Manouchian at the Pantheon: they are “freedom fighters who are honored”
“Three years of work which has come to fruition »
Despite this debate, this pantheonization is “ a feeling of joy, since it is a work of three years which comes to fruition », Testifies Jean-Pierre Sakoun, the president of Unité Laïque. A few years ago, a previous attempt to bring Manouchian and his fellow foreign resistance fighters into the Pantheon was inconclusive. “ In 2014, the initiative at the time proposed entry into the Pantheon of the 23 executed on February 21 at Mont-Valérien. I always thought that this was one of the reasons for the failure of this initiative because the Pantheon is not a cemetery, it is a symbolic place. It was necessary to recognize the Armenianness of Missak Manouchian but not making it an essential element of his entry into the Pantheon. Missak Manouchian does not enter the Pantheon because he is Armenian but for what he did for France », he adds.
“ It was necessary for these resistance fighters, foreigners, communists, workers, shot at Mont-Valérien – four categories which until now were not present at the Pantheon – to come and join their comrades in arms and their companions in pain so that the tribute of the nation to those to whom we owe our freedom is complete », he concludes.
Some 2,000 people were invited to the ceremony, including Communist Party officials, the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and numerous representatives of the Armenian community as well as 600 students. Scheduled to last more than two hours, the ceremony will include numerous flashbacks in images and songs on the life of Missak Manouchian and “ an innovative scenography » representing the members of the Manouchian group. “ This will be a way to bring them together before entering the building “, explained the Élysée. Missak’s last letter to Mélinée will be read and the song Red Postere, by Louis Aragon and Léo Ferré, written in 1961 in tribute to the martyrs of the Resistance, will also be performed, before the speech by the President of the Republic.
Before the entry into the Pantheon of Missak and Mélinée Manouchian as well as the 23 comrades-in-arms of the stateless poet, a tribute ceremony took place Tuesday at Mont-Valérien, near Paris, where a vigil was organized in the presence of the coffin of Missak Manouchian.
By Baptiste Coulon
A tricolor flag wraps the coffin of Missak Manouchian as she enters the Mont-Valérien clearing. This same clearing, where he and his comrades in arms were executed, 80 years ago. Lucas, in CM2, misses nothing of the tribute to this recently discovered resistance fighter: “ I watched a video about him. I know that he was shot here, at Mont-Valérien, by the Germans, because of what he did for France “.
At his side, Delphine, his mother honors the man: “ He’s someone who fought for us to be free “. For this middle school Spanish teacher, being there with family is important. “ Young and old, it’s important that we are all here today. These are the future adults that we train and educate there. So, it seems very important to me that there is this duty of memory to commemorate this commitment he had for France “, she believes.
At Mont-Valérien these last words of the resistance fighter to his wife resonate: “ My dear Mélinée, in a few hours, I will no longer be in this world. We are going to be shot this afternoon at 3 p.m. “. Words written in a farewell letter to his wife. “ I found it magnificent », reacted Éliane, communist activist. She listens attentively and sees in Manouchian’s entry into the Pantheon a resonance with current events: “ In a period where we are trying to kick people out of France anyway, it is a very strong message to show what these foreign resistance fighters were able to bring, and it is entirely beneficial. “. And even if this recognition comes 80 years later, she says, it is better late than never.