Hyper Cacher attack: "That day, I died with Philippe"

Raw, intense, overwhelming suffering.

This Tuesday morning, Valérie Braham, "widow at 39 years", delivered to the bar of the special assize court which judges the attacks of January 2015 a poignant testimony on the death of her husband, Philippe, shot by Amedy Coulibaly during of the Hyper Cacher hostage-taking on January 9, 2015. This "upright" man was 45 years old.

"That day, I died with him," breathes this woman with long jet-black hair, her voice broken with sobs.

My husband was a pillar in my life.

"

When she learns, just after picking up her two youngest children from nursery and nursery school, that a hostage-taking is taking place at the Porte de Vincennes store (Paris XXth), Valérie Braham is not very calm.

The assassination, the day before, of Clarissa Jean-Philippe in Montrouge (Hauts-de-Seine), where her children are educated, had shaken him.

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She therefore contacted her husband directly.

“We had a deal between us,” she explains.

I'm an anxious woman, he knew he had to answer me, even if it was to say yes and hang up.

He did not answer and I was immediately very afraid.

I sensed that something was wrong.

I felt unwell, I understood that my husband was there.

Philippe Braham is one of the four victims of this attack, killed because of Jewish faith.

His wife immediately takes refuge with her brother-in-law, where an unbearable wait begins.

“When the assault came, I was looking at the screen looking for it everywhere.

I even thought I saw him at one point, ”she recalls.

She calls the hospitals, to no avail.

It is when she sees through the window a member of her community who has come to tell her the news that she understands.

“I couldn't believe it,” she cries at the stand.

I didn't know what to say to my children.

I had two babies with me, plus our 8 year old daughter.

The world has collapsed.

I asked myself:

"

"I learned not to sleep anymore"

Since that fateful Friday in January 2015, Valérie Braham has been overcome by grief and anguish that something will happen to her and that her children will find themselves alone.

She made her little sister swear that in the event of misfortune the siblings would not be separated.

" I do not sleep anymore.

In fact, I learned not to sleep anymore, she slips, triturating her hands.

I need to check several times that the children are there.

I am afraid of the future.

"

Her obsession today is to perpetuate the memory of this husband and father whose photos she wanted to show in the courtroom.

We see a jovial man, smiling to his wife, a baby in his arms, this little girl then aged 20 months who, five and a half years later, no longer remembers her dad.

“My husband is very present at home.

I'm afraid my children will forget about it, she insists.

I feel like I'm not going to be able to raise my children.

It's too heavy to carry, I'm tired.

"

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VIDEO.

Hyper Cacher attack: "That day, I had to die"

With great courage, she struggles to fulfill her mission.

As during the last celebration of Jewish Easter, lived confined with family because of Covid-19.

“My husband knew perfectly well how to relate the exit from Egypt.

He gave lots of anecdotes, added songs, he captivated the children, she explains.

So this year I put a frame of him in the middle of the table and, as best I could, told the story.

I felt he was there.

I managed to do it with joy, I need the children to be happy.

"

Despite all her efforts, Valérie Braham's life froze on January 9, 2015. “People have resumed the course of their lives, their work… But me, it's all over,” she continues, still so moved. .

I tried two or three times to go back to work but it is no longer possible.

For children, parks, Disneyland, birthdays with friends are over.

I am not capable of it.

"

Eric Cohen, Yohan's father, killed at Hyper Cacher, this Tuesday at the trial with Zarie Sibonie, a survivor.

LP / OL  

Eric Cohen has never succeeded in resuming his former life and his professional activity.

Amedy Coulibaly's arms took away his son, Yohan, this 20 year old boy "altruistic and respectful of his parents", who died after having died in this store where he worked as an employee.

“I started working when I was 15 but, overnight, within a minute, I was unable to do anything.

I lost confidence in myself.

I am no longer me, ”reveals himself at the helm this man with the massive build.

His wife also collapsed.

"We are survivors, we will no longer be able to live normally, it's impossible.

Our flesh was stolen from us, ”recalls this father who now lives for his daughter, Yohan's little sister.

"Why this hatred of the Jew?"

In his testimony, we feel all the anger restrained and the efforts made to control oneself in the face of the mad absurdity of the crime.

“It is not possible to take the life of a 20 year old child.

We have always been upright people.

The ease with which my son and three other people were abducted, I will never forgive, ”he repeats four times.

"Why this gratuitous wickedness?"

Why this hatred of the Jew?

I still can't figure it out, ”he adds, addressing the defendants without looking at them, suspected of having provided varying degrees of logistical support to the hostage taker:“ I would like 'They explain to me how we can help someone take people's lives.

"

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Valérie Braham, who, like Yohan Cohen's parents, now lives in Israel, does not understand this terrorist act either.

“Yes there are conflicts between countries, but I have nothing to do with it.

My husband had nothing to do with it, ”she says, vibrantly.

To their three children, she explained that a "bad guy" was responsible for the death of their father.

“But they don't understand why a bad guy wanted to kill daddy.

Because he was the nicest in the world.

"