Emmanuel Macron appointed Maurice Papon by denouncing Saturday, October 16 “inexcusable crimes for the Republic”. The name of the prefect of Paris is associated with the massacre of Algerians on October 17, 1961, but also with the German Occupation.
Maurice Papon is the face of the darkest periods of our contemporary history: from the German Occupation to the Algerian War. His name resurfaced on Saturday, October 16 in a press release.é of EmMacron manual. The head of state has in a way designated him as responsible for the massacre of October 17, 1961. 60 years ago, the Prefect of Police of Paris, Maurice paponot, ordered the fierce repression of a gathering of Algerians. While 30,000 of them demonstrated peacefully, dozens were killed, somes thrown into the Seine. The zealous prefect had galvanized his troops.
Maurice Papon’s career spans 40 years of history. First under Marshal Pétain then under the presidency of Charles de Gaulle and finally that of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. The prefect was decorated and well noted, whatever the regime. He was also Minister of the Budget before being caught up by his past. In 1997, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for crimes against humanity for having participated in the deportation of hundreds of Jews to extermination camps. He will be released after three years in prison, due to his state of health in 2002. He will never be prosecuted for the repression of the demonstration of October 17, 1961.