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People gather on Place de la République in Paris to commemorate Samuel Paty
Photo: CHARLES PLATIAU / REUTERS
A sea of flowers lies in front of the Collège Bois d´Aulne school in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.
Students, parents and teachers have gathered to mourn, many students cry.
In the middle of the flowers there is a sign "I am a teacher, I am Samuel";
it is reminiscent of the saying "I am Charlie" after the assassination attempt on the satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo" five years ago.
French media are full of images like these these days.
The students and teachers mourn the loss of the history teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded with a knife near the school on Friday evening.
The 18-year-old perpetrator with Chechen roots was shot dead by police shortly afterwards.
President Emmanuel Macron rated the attack as an Islamist act of terrorism.
Now the French are in shock, especially the teachers are stunned.
They also see the gruesome murder as an attack on freedom to learn and the French school.
They have become aware of what they are risking every day: their lives.
You can die because you are a teacher.
And that in a democratic country.
The attack hits the republic right in the heart.
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A woman with a picture of Samuel Paty
Photo: FRANCOIS LO PRESTI / AFP
Paty, 47, married with a five-year-old son, was known for campaigning for freedom of expression.
To illustrate the subject, he showed his students caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in citizenship class.
He wanted his students to think about it.
That is why he addressed problems in society very specifically.
"Monsieur Paty", an avid tennis player, was one of the school's most popular teachers.
Students say he was very friendly and very committed.
"He really wanted to teach us something. We debated a lot," the young people remember on French television or on social media and rave about Paty's interesting lessons, in which he explained background information instead of just letting the children learn things by heart.
He was also funny: "He joked and laughed."
All of this is not exactly the norm in France, in strict lessons, which are mostly frontal.
"He was an excellent teacher who cared about his students"
Friends, colleagues and parents also describe Paty as a role model.
"He was my friend at the University of Lyon, an excellent student, a good teacher, someone who was looking for dialogue," said his companion Christophe Capuano.
"He was straightforward and convinced that education can change people," said a colleague.
And the mother of one student said: "He was an excellent teacher who cared about his students."
Paty had been teaching in the Paris area since 1997 and had been a teacher at the school for three years.
He had shown the same cartoons in class every year, including on October 5, 2020. There had been no previous incidents after his class.
Perhaps the context played a role this time: the trial of the assassination attempt on the editorial staff of "Charlie Hebdo" is currently underway in Paris.
In this context, the satirical newspaper had republished the caricatures.
That had heated the mood.
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French Prime Minister Jean Castex and Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, at a memorial meeting for Samuel Paty
Photo: BERTRAND GUAY / AFP
The father of a schoolgirl had complained about Paty on social networks and filed charges for distributing "pornographic images".
Paty was shocked to find out about the complaint when he was interrogated by police on October 12th.
He has looked intimidated since the incident, and some accused him of racism.
The teacher then filed a contraindication for defamation.
Now many in France are wondering why he was not placed under police protection.
However, complaints about teachers are frequent in France, and the police did not respond, presumably because the charges were for "pornographic images".
A few days after Paty showed the cartoons, there was a meeting at the school with parents, the principal and an officer from the school inspectorate.
Paty apologized for apparently not getting the message across properly.
After his death, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer intervened and stressed Paty had been "fully supported" by the school authorities.
Previously, there had been rumors of possible sanctions against the teacher.
His colleagues are now calling for clarification.
An investigation is to be conducted to determine how the school authorities actually handled the pre-Paty's dispute and why the police were not involved.
There is great horror that after the freedom of the press at Charlie Hebdo, after the freedom to celebrate - in the terror series in Paris, including the Bataclan concert hall - the freedom to learn has now also become a target.
But the students don't want to be intimidated.
The news of a sixth grader spread rapidly on social networks: "We have to keep learning so that the terrorists don't win."
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