“My dear Mélinée, my beloved little orphan, in a few hours I will no longer be in this world.”
The words of Missak Manouchian resonated at the Ministry of Culture on Wednesday, a few hours before the pantheonization of the resistance fighter and his wife.
In a clip, Rachida Dati and André Manoukian give a musical reading of the last letter written by the resistance fighter to Mélinée.
Tribute to the ministry before the ceremony at the Pantheon, Rachida Dati salutes a
“historic day for France, for Europe, for Armenia”
, and recalls that this pantheonization
“is a national tribute for all these foreigners, all these French people, who gave their lives for France, for our freedom
.
Also read: Missak Manouchian, a memory built by poets
The official ceremony at the Pantheon will take place at 6 p.m.
Missak and Mélinée should join vault XIII, opposite the tomb of Joséphine Baker and near that of Maurice Genevoix.
According to the official press release,
“a
commemorative plaque on which will be inscribed the names of his 21 comrades shot
on the same day, supplemented by that of Joseph Epstein (shot in April 1944) and that of Golda Bancic (guillotined in Stuttgart in May 1944) will be placed near their grave.