By Antonio Torres del Cerro
Paris (EFE).– On the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Nov. 13, 2015 attacks, hundreds of people gathered Wednesday at Paris’s Place de la République to light candles and lay flowers in memory of the 132 victims of the deadliest strikes on French soil since World War II.
“The victims remain in our hearts,” 70-year-old Chantal Barata told EFE.
Though she had no relatives directly affected, she could not hold back her tears as she recalled that night.
The Parisian, who came from her home near the Luxembourg Gardens, said her gesture at the memorial, set up at the foot of the statue symbolizing the French Republic, was to “keep alive the memory” of those who died.
Barata also referred to the two other major attacks that took place before and after Nov. 13: the January 2015 assault on the offices of Charlie Hebdo (12 killed) and the July 2016 truck attack in Nice (86 killed).
Christine, 62, lived through the attacks almost firsthand.
The resident of Paris’s 11th arrondissement was having a drink at a bar near La Belle Équipe when one of the three militant cells struck, killing 21 people in what became the second-deadliest attack of the night, after the Bataclan concert hall massacre, which claimed 92 lives.
“The bar owner told us to go inside and then locked the door. We stayed there until 3 a.m., as bits of information slowly began to emerge. When I left, it was incomprehensible, the forensic police were everywhere,” she recalled.
A decade later, Christine says she hasn’t changed her habits.
She still takes public transport and sits at café terraces. Yet she admits that attacks like those of Nov. 13 “could happen again,” recalling also Charlie Hebdo and the Nice tragedy.
Rémy, also in his 60s, traveled from much farther away. He caught a 6:45 a.m. train from Montélimar, some 600 kilometers southeast of Paris, to attend the commemorations being held this week for the 10th anniversary.
“The suffering caused by these attacks is not only French but global, because many victims were of other nationalities,” he said.
For him, the victims of Nov. 13 have not been forgotten, even though “many things have happened in France and around the world” in the decade since.
“France must move forward, history must move forward, but we don’t forget, and we live with it. We’ve faced difficult times, but they haven’t stopped us from moving ahead with our motto: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” he said.
Photo Exhibition and Giant Screen Just a few meters from the memorial at Place de la République, resembling the one that emerged in the days after the attacks, the City of Paris has organized an exhibition of about 50 photographs commemorating each site targeted by the attackers.
The images recall the scenes of the tragedies that unfolded in France.
As Parisians and tourists walked quietly between the memorial and the exhibition, workers were assembling giant screens that will broadcast Thursday’s nine-hour commemoration live, an event to be attended by French President Emmanuel Macron. EFE atc-sk
