REPORTING. Before entering the Pantheon, Missak Manouchian “radiates with her spirit of resistance” in Marseille and the Old Port

The resistance fighter Missak Manouchian, who will enter the Pantheon on Wednesday evening, gave his name to a garden above the Old Port of Marseille, where he arrived in 1924 after fleeing the Armenian genocide.

It was in Marseille, like many Armenians, that Missak Manouchian landed in 1924 to take refuge in France, after fleeing the genocide of his people in 1915. The resistance fighter, who will enter the Pantheon on Wednesday February 21, 80 years old for the day after being shot by the Nazis at Mont Valérien, near Paris, is a strong symbol of the Armenian community, particularly in the Marseille city. A garden bears his name above the Old Port, where his bronze bust sits. “There is the Good Mother who watches over Marseille, and Manouchian, above the Old Port, who, I hope, shines with his spirit of resistance in this city where he arrived”shows Pascal Chamassian, of the Armenian Youth association of France, a long-time activist for the Armenian cause. “Being Armenian means fighting all the time”he swears.

“For several decades now, we have been commemorating Missak Manouchian and her comrades every February 21, right here.” he confides about the resistance fighter, who was part of the “Manouchian” group, a commando with 21 foreigners close to the Communist Party. “Today, they return to the crypt with the great men, with Malraux, with Hugo. Finally, he will embody the resistance of men against the barbarians. They fought against the Nazi oppressor, they gave their lives for an ideal: to live free. It is from these values ​​that we often draw our energy and this desire to continue our fights.”

“Real heroes” to identify with

Fight yesterday for the recognition of the Armenian genocide, today against the war with Azerbaijan. In this context, the spotlighting of Manouchian is important. Talking about him allows “to talk about Armenia”, says Robert Guédiguian. The Marseille director of Armenian origin told the story of the commando in a film: The Army of Christ.

For him, youth must embrace these heroes: “I think they need to see that, that France was also defended by many immigrants, foreigners who did not have their papers. We absolutely must identify with these characters. This are real heroes who died to defend the idea they had of France. It was not to defend France as a territory, as a homeland, it was to defend the France of the Enlightenment, light.”

“It’s better than Batman or Spider-Man.”

director Robert Guédiguian

at franceinfo

Heroes “who died without hatred”, insists Robert Guédiguian. And the filmmaker recalls this sentence written by Missak Manouchian, in a letter sent to his wife before being shot: “I have no hatred against the German people or anyone.”