Paris massacre of 1961

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Paris massacre of 1961
Part of Algerian War
Graffiti on the Pont Saint-Michel in 1961: "Ici on noie les Algériens" ("Here we drown Algerians").[1][2] Dozens of bodies were later pulled from the River Seine.
Location	Pont Saint-Michel
Date	17 October 1961; 62 years ago (1961-10-17)
Deaths	30[3]–300 (estimate)
Victims	A demonstration of some 30,000 pro-National Liberation Front (FLN) Algerians
Perpetrators	Head of the Parisian police, Maurice Papon, the French National Police

The Paris massacre of 1961^[a] (also called the 17 October 1961 massacre^[b] in France) was the violent suppression of Algerian demonstrators in Paris by the French National Police. It occurred on 17 October 1961, during the Algerian War (1954–62). Under orders from the head of the Parisian police, Maurice Papon, the National Police attacked a demonstration by 30,000 pro-National Liberation Front (FLN) Algerians. In 1998, after 37 years of press censorship, the government acknowledged 40 deaths, although some historians estimate that between 200 and 300 Algerians died.^[4][5] Death was due to Police brutality and drowning, as police officers threw demonstrators into the river Seine.

The massacre was intentional according to historian Jean-Luc Einaudi, who won a trial against Papon in 1999. (Papon had been convicted in 1998 of crimes against humanity for his role under the Vichy collaborationist regime during World War II.) Official documentation and eyewitness accounts in the Paris police department suggest that Papon may have directed the violence himself. Police records show that he called for officers in one station to be "subversive" in quelling the demonstrations, and assured them protection from prosecution if they participated.^[5][6]

Forty years later, on 17 October 2001, Bertrand Delanoë, the Socialist Mayor of Paris, put up a memorial plaque on Pont Saint-Michel.^[7][8] How many demonstrators were killed is still unclear. In the absence of official estimates, the plaque reads, "In memory of the many Algerians killed during the bloody repression of the peaceful demonstration of 17 October 1961". On 18 February 2007 (the day after Papon's death) calls were made for a Paris Métro station under construction in Gennevilliers to be named "17 Octobre 1961." ^[9][10]

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