It is an essential landmark in the life of the Armenian community in Paris.
And even in Île-de-France, this address, as secret as it is renowned, brings together the famous “ian” names eager to return to their roots for a meal.
Welcome to the canteen of the Armenian Culture House (MCA), in the heart of the 9th arrondissement of the capital, where all profiles come together in an atmosphere that smacks of heightened patriotism.
Flags, photos, music, books... The slightest object present refers to Armenia.
While Missak and Mélinée Manouchian, two Armenian communist resistance fighters, are preparing to enter the Pantheon, inevitably, here, it is impossible to remain unmoved.
“
The Manouchians allowed us to be here, in France, today
,” relates Tchinar, the thunderous boss, between two crowded departments.
There will be a lot of people at the ceremony.
It is thanks to them, to their model, that we can live in peace, preserve our culture and our traditions
.
» The Franco-Armenian heritage of the Manouchians, or the ideals of living together and freedom.
A few kilometers further west, in Issy-les-Moulineaux – nicknamed “the little Armenia of Hauts-de-Seine” – the Armenian Youth of France association (JAF) was born in 1945 from the merger of two organizations created by resistance fighters, including Missak Manouchian.
So the JAF highlights its hero.
Paintings in his likeness, bronze bust... Missak is everywhere.
“
The spirit of Manouchian must serve as an example for future generations.
It is proof that we can have
our identity, without neglecting or offending any other ,
”
argues Chouchan Simakyan, member of the JAF board of directors.
Also read: Manouchian, the Armenian resistance fighter who was at the heart of a war of memories
She remains particularly concerned by the current situation in Armenia, still unstable after the invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) by Azerbaijan.
“
There is a sad irony of history.
At the moment when we honor the memory of the Manouchians, the world is silent in the face of the drama in Artsakh
, she notes.
We think strongly, on this day of recognition, of the young soldiers who died to defend our lands.
» Tigrane Yegavian, researcher and analyst, thus sees the pantheonization of the Manouchians as “
a double message sent by Emmanuel Macron.
First, towards the French of Armenian origin, so that they can in some way obtain through this ceremony a rattle of compensation in exchange for the tacit abandonment of Artsakh;
and vis-à-vis the left, in a context of identity tension exacerbated by the management of the thorny migration issue
.
»
A story closely linked “to that of immigrants during the resistance”
For Pierre Ouzoulias, communist senator and vice-president of the France-Armenia group, “
the Armenian community in France did not want to make the pantheonization of the Manouchians a community, or even communitarian, event
,” he indicates.
Rather, she recognizes in Missak the foreign hero, the stateless person who died for France.
» Gérard Hovakimian, president of the Armaras Collective, created in 2020 to raise awareness among the general public of the Armenian cause, does not say the opposite.
“
It is a real source of pride for all the grandchildren of the survivors of the 1915 genocide that Manouchian is finally distinguished by the French Republic, even though his request for nationality had been refused twice
.”
The same feeling predominates among Alexis Sefer, professor of history and geography and regular columnist on AYP FM radio.
He will be part of the public at the Pantheon, with a few volunteer students.
It is a real pride for all the grandchildren of the survivors of the 1915 genocide that Manouchian is finally recognized by the French Republic, even though his request for nationality had been refused twice.
Gérard Hovakimian, president of the Armaras Collective
He wishes to recall that the history of the Manouchians is closely linked to “
that of migratory flows in France between the wars, then that of immigrants during the resistance.
The latter paid a heavy price during the executions
at Mont-Valérien.
» If some felt that the Manouchian should rather rest forever alongside their comrades of the FTP-MOI, Astrig Atamian, historian and co-author of the book
Manouchian: Missak and Mélinée Manouchian, two orphans of the genocide of committed Armenians in the French Resistance
, judges that this debate no longer has reason to exist.
“
The names of the 23 FTP-MOI, with Olga Bancic, guillotined in Germany in May 1944, and Joseph Epstein, will be engraved in gold letters
,” she underlines.
Which is worth pantheonization in the republican tradition.
It was to pay tribute to the height, for the Manouchian, and all those foreigners who fought against the occupier.
»
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