The other 8th of May 1945: the massacres of Sétif, Guelma and Kherrata
Haven’t you noticed the obvious? The inexorable link between France and Algeria. This beautiful country that goes out of its way to reject the other, as if their blood and tears had not been mixed.
France has shed blood along with its memory, which it has mopped up and then allowed to evaporate into the mists of oblivion.
On 8 May 1945, we celebrated the liberation from Nazi Germany, but in Algeria we perpetuated the same crimes against humanity that we denounced as having been committed during the period of collaboration.
Namely: mass massacres, racism, segregation and extermination in crematoria, leaving the Algerian victims no means of being named and recognised.
This is what France did to the Algerians of Sétif, Guelma and Kherrata on 8 May 1945. A bloody crackdown on a people who were demanding their independence, and shootings that were justified by calling them “preventive”.
It is estimated that between 45,000 and 50,000 Algerians were massacred without trial. To contain a colonial domination that never made sense.
In 2025, France is still not teaching its history properly in school textbooks. Because to deny this part is to deny the truth. And the truth is that Algeria is part of French history.
