For the first time, the annual ceremony honoring the victims of terrorism is being held outside Paris. The Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, went to Arras on Monday March 11, for a relocated ceremony in tribute to French teacher Dominique Bernard, killed on October 13, 2023 in front of his establishment, the Gambetta college-high school, by a radicalized former student , three years after the assassination of Samuel Paty.
Arriving in Arras around 8:30 a.m., Gabriel Attal went to the establishment, which remained open on Monday, to speak with students and then teachers, and to renew the “support of the Nation” five months after the tragedy. “He told us to stick together,” said Silyan, a former student of Dominique Bernard. “But we have to move on now,” added this 4th grade student. For teachers, on the other hand, “the trauma is still extremely present, the needs of colleagues extremely important”, underlined Catherine Piecuch, local leader of the FSU union.
The Prime Minister then presented the Legion of Honor insignia to the five people from the establishment who intervened during the attack. “By protecting our school, you protected all of our youth,” he said, saluting the “courage” and “bravery” of “these women and men who faced death in the face and chose to face danger to save lives.”
He was then to preside over the official ceremony at the citadel of Arras, where some 600 people were invited. Students and teachers from the two affected establishments will read texts and a memorial gesture is planned after the speech by Gabriel Attal, who will then have lunch with elected officials and representatives of victims’ associations.
A symbolic place
At the Interministerial Delegation for Victim Assistance (DIAV), it is explained that the organization of the ceremony outside Paris is “a fairly old request from the associations” who are also “very attached” to what it is held “in a place where education has been affected.” Emmanuel Macron usually presides over this tribute to Les Invalides, where a bronze statue was erected symbolizing the words of the victims which continues even after their death. Several associations, however, deplored not having been involved in the choice of location.
This day of tribute has a European dimension since it is held on the anniversary of the attacks of March 11, 2004 in Madrid (192 dead), 20 years ago this year. Last year, President Emmanuel Macron praised the “dignity” and the demand for “truth” and “humanity” which marked the trials of the attacks of the past decade in France, notably those of Nice and 13 November 2015.
After the ceremony, Gabriel Attal will remain in Pas-de-Calais to visit flood victims, as he has already done twice since his arrival in Matignon. He will visit an affected home in Saint-Etienne-Au-Mont before attending a presentation in La Caloterie of the emergency work carried out and discussing the resilience plan in Montreuil-Sur-Mer with local stakeholders. .
Violent bad weather also affected the south-east of France on Sunday, where the lifeless bodies of three victims were found in the Gard, while hundreds of rescuers are still looking for four other people, including two children from the same family. . These people were swept away while trying to drive across bridges over swollen rivers. “The Nation stands in solidarity”, reacted on the social network
