80 years have passed and they have never had the recognition they deserved. Since this Wednesday, for the first time, the remains of a foreign hero of the anti-Nazi resistance, the Armenian communist Missak Manouchian, rest in the Pantheon, along with those of his wife, Mélinée. A plaque on the monumental tomb of French national glories commemorates the 23 Manouchian comrades who were executed by the German occupiers in February 1944, among them the Spaniard Celestino Alfonso.
Entering the Pantheon is the highest posthumous honor that France can bestow on a person. Among others, Voltaire, Rousseau, Balzac, Victor Hugo, the Curie couple and Simone Veil rest there. Hence the historical relevance of this Wednesday’s gesture.
The leading role in the institutional tribute went to Manouchian, a worker and poet, survivor of the Armenian genocide of 1915 and leader of the group Partisan Snipers-Immigrant Manpower (FTP-MOI). However, it was a collective tribute to all the resisters from other countries who helped liberate France during World War II. All the names on the plaque were read, in alphabetical order. Alfonso was the first.
The capture and condemnation of these combatants was highly highlighted by German propaganda, always in favor of the cruelest punishment. They hung a red-backed poster in the streets – shown this Wednesday during the ceremony – with photos of ten of them, just before being shot in the Mont-Valérien fortress, in the municipality of Suresnes, on the outskirts of Paris, with their name, nationality and the number of attacks they had committed. Manouchian was credited with 56 actions and 150 deaths. Alfonso, described as a “red Spaniard”, was held responsible for seven attacks. He was a native of a town in Salamanca, a carpenter by trade and was 27 years old when he died. The only woman in the group, Olga Bancic, was transferred to Germany and guillotined in Stuttgart.
The solemn event chaired by Emmanuel Macron was preceded by controversy by the presence of Marine Le Pen. The head of state advised against the attendance of far-right leaders, “given the nature of the Manouchian combat.” Macron himself said it in an interview with the communist newspaper L’Humanité. In his opinion, “the spirit of decency and the relationship with history” advised the extreme right not to go to the Pantheon, as they did not do at the recent tribute in Les Invalides to the deceased former Minister of Justice Robert Badinter, promoter of the abolition of the death penalty, at the request of the family. However, Macron did not want to force things. He legally could not prevent his presence. Le Pen was outraged by the president’s comments and announced that she would be there. She did so, despite critical voices, such as that of Georges Duffau-Epstein, son of one of those shot, Joseph Epstein. “When it is proposed to expel all immigrants, there is nothing to do in the Pantheon,” lamented this relative.
“This odyssey, that of Manouche (the diminutive he used) and his comrades in arms, is also ours,” Macron stated in his speech, and spoke of his trajectory as “a European destiny, from the Caucasus to the Pantheon,” as part of “the international of freedom, love and courage.” The president acknowledged that the resister “decided to die for our nation, which however refused to fully adopt him.” Manouchian, in fact, died officially stateless because she had been denied French nationality.
“Whoever dies for universal freedom is always right in the face of history,” highlighted the French president, who cited Celestino Alfonso twice, including this phrase in his last letter: “I know why I die and I am very proud.”
The Spanish Minister of Territorial Policy and Democratic Memory, Ángel Víctor Torres, participated in the Paris events, making a floral offering, along with Mayor Anne Hidalgo, in the Jardín de La Nueve, in the City Hall, the space that honors the company made up of Spanish resisters that played a great role in the liberation of the French capital in August 1944.
For Manouchian and his comrades, the liberation of France came too late. In the last letter to his wife before the execution, the Armenian fighter wrote, prophetically, that he was going to die “two fingers from victory.” He also said he harbored no hatred towards the German people.
