Emmanuel Macron received the historian Benjamin Stora on Friday July 24 and entrusted him with a mission on " the memory of colonization and the Algerian war ", with a view to promoting " reconciliation between the French and Algerian peoples ", announced the Élysée.
Read also: In Algiers, the Villa des Oliviers overlooks the intrigues
This mission, whose conclusions are expected at the end of the year, " will make it possible to draw up a fair and precise inventory of the progress made in France on the memory of colonization and the Algerian war, as well as of the focused on these issues on both sides of the Mediterranean ”, explained the presidency.
In a parallel process, Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced on Sunday that he had appointed Doctor Abdelmadjid Chikhi, director general of the Algerian National Archives Center, to carry out “ truth ” work on memorial issues between the two countries.
"The history of the Algerian war viewed with lucidity"
Born in 1950 in Constantine, Algeria, Benjamin Stora is one of the most renowned specialists in the history of Algeria, in particular on the war (1954-1962) which led to the country's independence. In Benjamin Stora's mission letter, Emmanuel Macron indicates that “ it is important that the history of the Algerian war be known and viewed with lucidity. It is about the appeasement and the serenity of those it has wounded ”. For him, it is also " the possibility for our youth to get out of memory conflicts ".
" I wish to join in a new desire for reconciliation of the French and Algerian peoples ", writes the president. Because " the subject of colonization and the Algerian war has for too long hindered the construction between our two countries of a common destiny in the Mediterranean ".
Read also: Algeria: solemn welcome of the remains of the first anti-colonial fighters
Strong sign of a thaw in relations between Algeria and the former colonial power, Paris handed over in early July the remains of 24 Algerian fighters killed at the start of French colonization in the 19th century. A gesture considered " a big step " by Algiers. " Through this kind of gesture, France is rediscovering its history, " said Benjamin Stora in an interview with AFP. For him, " there is a worldwide movement to reappropriate the history of peoples and France cannot miss it ".
The mission entrusted by Emmanuel Macron should allow " Benjamin Stora to freely formulate recommendations on the next steps in this work of truth and memory ", according to the Elysee. Since the start of his five-year term, Emmanuel Macron has recognized that Maurice Audin, a pro-independence mathematician who died in 1957, had indeed " died under torture as a result of the system then instituted in Algeria by France ". He also honored the harkis, these Algerian fighters who served France and then were abandoned by Paris in tragic conditions.
