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Paris Is Quiet but Resolute as It Mourns on Anniversary of Attacks | Paris Is Quiet but Resolute as It Mourns on Anniversary of Attacks |
(about 1 hour later) | |
PARIS — No bells tolled. No fists were raised. No sirens blared. | PARIS — No bells tolled. No fists were raised. No sirens blared. |
Instead, a penetrating silence enveloped Paris on Sunday morning as thousands of people across the city massed under a leaden sky for the anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attacks in France’s postwar history, a year to the day after they shook the nation. | Instead, a penetrating silence enveloped Paris on Sunday morning as thousands of people across the city massed under a leaden sky for the anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attacks in France’s postwar history, a year to the day after they shook the nation. |
In somber ceremonies at the Stade de France, the Bataclan concert hall and cafes where Islamic State militants unleashed synchronized assaults, massacring 130 and leaving hundreds wounded, President François Hollande stood amid heavy security before survivors, victims’ families, medics and throngs of the grieving to unveil marble plaques memorializing those whose lives ended abruptly last Nov. 13. | In somber ceremonies at the Stade de France, the Bataclan concert hall and cafes where Islamic State militants unleashed synchronized assaults, massacring 130 and leaving hundreds wounded, President François Hollande stood amid heavy security before survivors, victims’ families, medics and throngs of the grieving to unveil marble plaques memorializing those whose lives ended abruptly last Nov. 13. |
Mr. Hollande, too, remained silent. He arrived at each site without making a speech and quietly lifted the blue, white and red French flag, the Tricolore, from the grim tableaus to reveal the names of the dead, which an announcer then read off one by one. | |
For the survivors and the victims’ families, it was a moment to gather, take measure of their grief and seek to move past it. For many French citizens, as well as foreigners who were present at the massacres and returned to Paris during the weekend in a show of solidarity, it was an attempt to overcome trauma, despair or anger, and to push forward with heads held high. | |
As the day went on, thousands of people made their way to the Place de la République, a central rallying point in Paris, lighting candles and piling flowers on the pedestal of an immense bronze statue of Marianne, the personification of the French Republic. Posters were raised around the city, emblazoned with the Latin words “Fluctuat nec mergitur,” the ancient slogan of Paris, which translates to: “It is tossed by the waves, but does not sink.” | As the day went on, thousands of people made their way to the Place de la République, a central rallying point in Paris, lighting candles and piling flowers on the pedestal of an immense bronze statue of Marianne, the personification of the French Republic. Posters were raised around the city, emblazoned with the Latin words “Fluctuat nec mergitur,” the ancient slogan of Paris, which translates to: “It is tossed by the waves, but does not sink.” |
“This is a coming together for remembering — but also to forgive,” said Mark Colclough, a psychotherapist based in Copenhagen who was near the cafe La Bonne Bière when the terrorists stormed its terrace and machine-gunned five people before continuing their rampage across the city. | “This is a coming together for remembering — but also to forgive,” said Mark Colclough, a psychotherapist based in Copenhagen who was near the cafe La Bonne Bière when the terrorists stormed its terrace and machine-gunned five people before continuing their rampage across the city. |
Mr. Colclough attended a memorial there before making his way to a ceremony at another cafe, La Belle Équipe, to support a friend who had escaped death as the assailants mowed down 19 people around her. | |
“What’s remarkable is that there’s no hatred, no anger here,” he said as flowers and candles piled up at a makeshift shrine. “There’s a very deep feeling of humanity.” | |
The ceremonies unfolded a day after the Bataclan reopened to the public for the first time since three terrorists entered with assault rifles and killed 89 concertgoers at close range. The death toll reached 90 after one of the wounded died. | |
Headlining the hall’s reopening was the British musician Sting, who said the concert and the concertgoers had “two jobs: to remember those who lost their lives in the attack a year ago and to celebrate the life, music, which this historic concert hall represents.” | |
He ended by saying: “We will never forget them.” | He ended by saying: “We will never forget them.” |
In a city where memorial plaques abound, reminding citizens of deportations during the Holocaust and assassinations of major French figures, the placement of Nov. 13 plaques will prove a constant reminder of another grave and pivotal moment in French history. | In a city where memorial plaques abound, reminding citizens of deportations during the Holocaust and assassinations of major French figures, the placement of Nov. 13 plaques will prove a constant reminder of another grave and pivotal moment in French history. |
“Every day we have to walk by a plaque when we go to school, or when we go buy our groceries, or we go out for a drink,” said Matthias, who lives near Le Carillon and Le Petit Cambodge, two other cafes struck by the terrorists, and who declined to give his last name. “It’s here. We can’t deny that it happened. It’s necessary.” | “Every day we have to walk by a plaque when we go to school, or when we go buy our groceries, or we go out for a drink,” said Matthias, who lives near Le Carillon and Le Petit Cambodge, two other cafes struck by the terrorists, and who declined to give his last name. “It’s here. We can’t deny that it happened. It’s necessary.” |
On Sunday, others called for tolerance and freedom, as Prime Minister Manuel Valls announced that the government might prolong a state of emergency imposed after the attacks. That policy was extended after an assailant, who was affiliated with the Islamic State, used a truck and killed 84 people in Nice on Bastille Day in July; it includes heightened surveillance of French citizens and a ramped-up military and police presence around the country. | |
Michael Dias, whose father died when one of three suicide bombers at the Stade de France detonated an explosive vest, urged the government to combat stigma and division, warning that doing otherwise could fan the flames of hate. | |
“If we wish to live in liberty, we need to practice tolerance,” he said in a speech. | |
For others, however, no measure of reconciliation seemed possible. Patrick Jardin, whose daughter, Nathalie, was killed at the Bataclan while attending the concert by Eagles of Death Metal, said the anger would never leave him. He and several other relatives of victims refused to participate in the commemorations on Sunday, calling them useless. | For others, however, no measure of reconciliation seemed possible. Patrick Jardin, whose daughter, Nathalie, was killed at the Bataclan while attending the concert by Eagles of Death Metal, said the anger would never leave him. He and several other relatives of victims refused to participate in the commemorations on Sunday, calling them useless. |
“We cannot respond to Kalashnikovs with candles,” Mr. Jardin said in an interview with France Bleu Nord radio. “I was told that with time, the pain would fade. But it gets worse every day.” | “We cannot respond to Kalashnikovs with candles,” Mr. Jardin said in an interview with France Bleu Nord radio. “I was told that with time, the pain would fade. But it gets worse every day.” |
The reopening on Saturday was the first chance for the public to see the Bataclan since the attacks, although the families of those who had died and the survivors had been invited back twice before: after it was cleaned up, and after its renovation. The orchestra pit and bar were crowded, and so was much of the balcony. | |
Despite Sting’s exhortation to embrace normal life, much has changed in Paris. | Despite Sting’s exhortation to embrace normal life, much has changed in Paris. |
Entering the Bataclan and many public buildings and museums in Paris now almost uniformly requires bag searches, if not body searches. At the Bataclan on Saturday, there were two sets of police checkpoints and an additional identification check inside: Searches are now an accepted part of life even on entering larger supermarkets in Paris. | |
Many of those in the audience appeared to have some connection to those who were at the concert last year. One of them was Georges Salines, the father of Lola Salines, a 19-year-old who died in the attack. | |
A thin, soft-spoken man wearing a beret, he started an association for the families of victims of the attacks and for survivors. | A thin, soft-spoken man wearing a beret, he started an association for the families of victims of the attacks and for survivors. |
“It was of course the worst day of my life, and immediately I decided I had to do something because the organization, at least as far as the information process was concerned, was terrible,” Mr. Salines said. | “It was of course the worst day of my life, and immediately I decided I had to do something because the organization, at least as far as the information process was concerned, was terrible,” Mr. Salines said. |
“I wanted to help fix it,” he said, and that was what prompted to him to start 13onze15: Fraternity and Truth. The name 13onze15 signifies the date of the attacks. | “I wanted to help fix it,” he said, and that was what prompted to him to start 13onze15: Fraternity and Truth. The name 13onze15 signifies the date of the attacks. |
“I am convinced that in order to fight terrorism and to win, we have to build a more friendly society, and on a lot of levels we have to be inclusive,” he said. “If we rely only on the military and the police, we will fail.” | |
At La Belle Équipe, Mr. Colclough was hoping for a similar future. | At La Belle Équipe, Mr. Colclough was hoping for a similar future. |
“I really wish that our politicians would see the trials we have as a society together, and see that as a humanitarian movement, of us moving together,” he said, as a fine rain began to fall. | “I really wish that our politicians would see the trials we have as a society together, and see that as a humanitarian movement, of us moving together,” he said, as a fine rain began to fall. |
“We need to have forgiveness and reaching out,” he said, “rather than a closing down.” | “We need to have forgiveness and reaching out,” he said, “rather than a closing down.” |