Published
Video length: 4 min
Notre-Dame de Bétharram: 76 complaints filed by former residents of the Catholic institution
Notre-Dame de Bétharram: 76 complaints filed by former residents of the Catholic institution
(France 2)
From now on, 76 complaints are accumulating in the file of the Catholic institution Notre-Dame de Bétharram, located in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Former residents speak of physical or sexual abuse. 21 people are targeted, including 11 still alive.
Former students carry the memory of the Catholic institution Notre-Dame de Bétharram (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) like a burden, yet renowned prestigious. “Our childhood was stolen from us”, testifies a former resident, anonymously. Alleged violence, rape and sexual assault that occurred between the 1970s and 1990s are discussed. The school gradually reveals its darkest secrets.
The words of entire generations are freed
A man testifies almost 40 years later. He first describes an atmosphere of terror. This brutality is, according to him, part of a well-established mechanism which led to the unspeakable. “They hurt you, but afterwards they comforted you”, he confides. Like him, others have chosen to break the silence. Among them, Alain Esquerre. He spent six years of his schooling in Betharram, and also claims to have suffered violence. Alain Esquerre started collecting the testimonies five months ago. 76 complaints were filed.
