This Wednesday, February 21, the remains of Missak and Mélinée Manouchian, communist activists who escaped the Armenian genocide and later played a crucial role in the French Resistance against the Nazi occupation, entered the Pantheon of France. Manouchian was executed eighty years ago by the Nazis near Paris, and now takes his place in the mausoleum of the Pantheon in Paris alongside other French national heroes. Through this event, the Government of Emmanuel Macron offered a tribute to the sacrifice of the foreign Resistance.
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“The odyssey of Manouchian and his comrades in arms is ours. An odyssey of freedom,” said President Emmanuel Macron in a solemn speech inside the Pantheon in Paris.
In this way, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, led this Wednesday, February 21, a ceremony in honor of Missak Manouchian, a stateless poet of Armenian origin who died fighting against the Nazi occupation during World War II.
Manouchian's entry into the mausoleum of the Pantheon in Paris alongside other French national heroes is considered a tribute to all the foreign fighters who joined the Resistance.
The doors of the Pantheon were illuminated with the colors of the French flag, an act that included the presence of a group of young people as a “strategy” to transmit memory to new generations.
Macron was in charge of leading the ceremony, in which he stressed that “the odyssey of 'Manouch'” was “an odyssey of freedom.”
The president also highlighted:
“They decided to die for our nation. This is the recognition of a European destiny, from the Caucasus to the Pantheon and with it freedom, love and courage.”
Thus, Manouchian's name and those of 23 other foreigners are inscribed on a plaque at the entrance of the Pantheon, where until now only the figures of French resisters rested.
A story that remembers French values
President Macron highlighted the difficulties that Manouchian faced throughout his life.
The member of the Resistance was born in 1906 in the southeast of what is now known as Turkey, he survived the Armenian genocide of 1915 – he was orphaned – to later join the thousands of Kurdish families who took refuge in Lebanon, before arriving in France.
Manouchian resisted barbarism with letters, writing poetry in French and Armenian. But he also took up arms, volunteering for the French Army, after the beginning of the Second World War was declared in 1939.
The poet was also in charge of leading a group of foreigners who fought to prevent the Nazis from expanding their horizons and taking over Paris. Until February 21, 1944, when he was executed along with his companions in the French camp of Fort Mont-Valérien.
A ceremony with art, music and poetry
Traditional Armenian instruments were in charge of enlivening the ceremony on February 21, while the coffins were held by the soldiers of the Foreign Legion, soldiers who currently fight for France.
Before being executed, Manouchian wrote a farewell letter that was recovered and has been cataloged as one of the “most beautiful in the entire history of France.”
In Paris, it was the singer Patrick Bruel who read the famous letter that Manouchian wrote to his wife 80 years ago:
“I feel a deep regret and it is that I did not make you happy, I would have very much liked to have a child with you, as you always wanted. Therefore, I beg you to get married after the war and have a child, fulfill my last wish, marry someone who can make you happy.”
A ceremony in which the existence of the “red poster” was also remembered, the poster led by Manouchian and which was used by the Nazis as propaganda to define the resisters as foreigners, Jews and communists.
Photographs of those honored decorated the tribute venue, as well as the song 'L'Affiche rouge', composed by Louis Aragon, livened up the heartfelt evening.
Relatives of those honored, leaders of resistance associations and representatives of other foreign groups joined the ceremony.
A Spaniard was also honored
The name of Celestino Alfonso, a Spanish resister, also had important recognition during this Wednesday's ceremony, thus becoming the first Spaniard to have a place of such importance as the Pantheon.
“I am just a soldier who dies for France (…), I know why I die and I am very proud,” Macron recalled when reading the words that Alfonso wrote before dying.
With the 'pantheonization' the work of all the foreign fighters who fought for French values is recognized, said Christine Montiel, great-niece of Celestino Alfonso.
With EFE and local media
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