Le Figaro Nantes
The request came from the communists of Loire-Atlantique.
Shortly before the pantheonization of Missak and Mélinée Manouchian, PCF 44 had asked the mayor of Nantes to inscribe the name of this couple of Armenian origin in the city.
A request which was accepted and communicated on Wednesday, the same day of the entry into the Pantheon of these figures of the Resistance.
The communist Missak Manouchian, military leader of the FTP-MOI in the Paris region, was shot by the Nazis at Mont-Valérien on February 21, 1944.
“The entry into the Pantheon of Missak and Mélinée Manouchian honors our Republic and honors France
,” Johanna Rolland declared in a press release.
This resonates in a very particular way in Nantes.
A companion city
of the Liberation, it was marked deep within itself by the resistance but also by its murderous repression.
Thus, the memory of the 50 hostages, 48 of whom, most of them communists, were executed, is inscribed in the heart of our city
.
Thus,
“today we wish to write the names of Missak and Mélinée Manouchian in our city by giving their name to a road in Nantes or to a municipal facility that we will take the time to choose as best we can.
It will thus be a question of bringing their heroic memory to life but also of ensuring that it contributes to guiding the destiny of our city
.
Read alsoMarseille will have a school named Mélinée and Missak Manouchian in 2025
An exhibition until February 28
No location has been defined yet.
“We are going to look over time and in a practical manner at what is most suitable for this
,” tells Le
Figaro
Robin Salecroix, departmental secretary of the PCF in Loire-Atlantique.
The activists and elected officials of his party are very satisfied:
“It is an additional symbol after pantheonization”
.
“It is a message of homage to history but also a sign for the future, and to reiterate that their fight inspires us
,” he adds.
Until February 28, an exhibition* dedicated to the poet and his wife is presented at the PCF federation in Nantes.
“In Loire-Atlantique, land of Resistance where the communists gave so much to defend France and its values”
, the party wishes to contribute to a popular tribute by presenting the fights, the life and the commitment of the Manouchians.
*41, rue des Olivettes 44000 Nantes - From February 21 to 28, 2024. Monday to Friday from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.