On May 8, 1945, while the victory of the Allies over Nazism was celebrated throughout Algerian territory, the repression by French forces of an independence demonstration left thousands dead in the region of Sétif, 300 km away, east of Algiers.
In Sétif, the cradle of Ferhat Abbas, founder of the Algerian Popular Union (UPA) and the Friends of the Manifesto and of Liberty (AML) which calls for the accession of Muslims to French citizenship, a crowd of 8,000 to 10,000 people gathered. form to celebrate the victory, at the call of the AML and the Algerian People’s Party (PPA, banned) of Messali Hadj, the father of Algerian nationalism.
“Long live independent Algeria”
Next to the French flag is the green and white Algerian flag for the first time. To the “Long live the Allied victory” chanted by the crowd, follow the “Long live independent Algeria”. After an order from the sub-prefect to remove signs and banners, a 22-year-old Muslim scout, Bouzid Saâl, refuses to lower the Algerian flag. Clashes broke out, a policeman fired and the young man was killed. The crowd is seized with panic. This is the start of the riots.
The anger of the demonstrators turns against the French. A total of 102 Europeans – 86 civilians and 16 soldiers – will be killed during the riots, according to historians Benjamin Stora and Guy Pervillé. In the afternoon, the insurrection gains the countryside then spreads to other cities, Guelma, Kherrata, Bône. For two days, the scenes of looting, assaults, rapes, and assassinations continue. The provisional government of General de Gaulle then responded with ruthless repression led by General Duval.
Over a distance of 150 km from Setif to the sea, martial law is proclaimed, all movement is prohibited, curfews decreed, nationalist leaders arrested, scouts and civilians summarily executed on suspicion. Mechtas (localities of 5,000 to 10,000 inhabitants) suspected of harboring separatists were machine-gunned by the air force and set on fire. Women, children, and old people killed. In two weeks, twenty air operations against the population will be carried out: 44 mechtas destroyed, douars (isolated hamlets in the plains or in the mountains) completely razed.
45,000 dead
According to Algerian official history, riots and repression have left 45,000 dead. Western historians put forward a toll of 15,000 to 20,000 dead, including a hundred Europeans. In November 1945, arrests linked to the riots still took place – around 4,000 – and death sentences and executions were pronounced. General Duval wrote to the colonial government: “I have given you peace for ten years, it is up to you to use it to reconcile the two communities”.
For some, the first episode of Algeria’s war of independence, which broke out in November 1954 and ended with the Evian Accords in March 1962, has just taken place. In 2005, the French ambassador in Algiers officially recognized that these massacres were “an inexcusable tragedy”.
Ten years later, the French Secretary of State for Veterans, Jean-Marc Todeschini, participated in the commemoration of the massacre in Algeria, laying a wreath at the foot of the mausoleum of Bouzid Saâl in Sétif.
