Communists from Hérault pay tribute to Missak Manouchian in Montpellier

Les élus et militants PCF rendent hommage à Missak Manouchian à Montpellier. – Sam Drammeh-Boillot

"Aux grands hommes, la patrie reconnaissante ! Et il était temps" pour les élus et militants communistes réunis ce mercredi 21 janvier à Montpellier pour rendre hommage au résistant Missak Manouchian. 

The national ceremony is planned for this Wednesday evening but the communists of Hérault could not wait. Gathered at the memorial to the Armenian genocide, where the resistance fighter came from, around forty sympathizers laid flowers after speeches recalling the man's fight. "We had to wait 80 years for the Republic to recognize the sacrifice of Mélinée and Missak Manouchian", explains Nicolas Cossange, departmental secretary of the Communist Party French. "80 years to the day after their sacrifice, these stateless foreigners enter the temple of the great figures of the Republic", welcomes -he. 

Also read: Survivor of the Armenian genocide, exemplary journey… who was Missak Manouchian, who enters the Pantheon this Wednesday ?

80 years later, the fight continues

If entry into the Pantheon is an important recognition for the Montpellier communists present today, everyone recalls that the fight is far from over. "At a time when fascist poison and the racist ideas of the extreme right have returned to the forefront, we wonder if the country is not ;#39;never experienced it 80 years ago", asks the departmental president of the PCF. "We must give hope to future generations. This recognition allows us to remember that resistance to fascism is possible at any moment", explains a young activist. 

In the crowd, we reflect. Red coats, red scarves and red berets in party colors color the grass under the commemorative plaque on Manouchian Lane. Minute of silence, Marseillaise and finally the Song of the Partisans which will resound for a final tribute to the resistance fighter shot by the Nazis on January 21, 1944, the first communist to enter the Pantheon. 

Also read: At what time and on which channel to watch the tribute to Missak Manouchian this Wednesday, February 21 ?