France, Algeria and the battle for truth

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.3 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 17 January 2019

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

President Emmanuel Macron has recently done something unusual for a French President – he made a declaration recognising that torture was used by the French military during the Algerian War of Independence. He described a system that allowed people to be arrested, interrogated and sometimes killed. Many families still don’t know what happened to their loved ones. At 87, Josette Audin, has campaigned for more than 60 years for the French state to take responsibility for the disappearance of her husband, Maurice Audin, during the Algerian War. Charlotte McDonald hears Josette’s story and discovers that the Algerian War has had a lasting impact on many more in France. She speaks to historians Malika Rahal and Fabrice Riceputi about their website 1000autres.org, and to war veteran Rémi Serres about his association 4ACG. Producer, Josephine Casserly Editor: Bridget Harney (Image: File photo of Maurice Audin, circa 1950. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Madame O'Don, do you have any photos that you might be able to show us?
0:05.2	This photo here, who was this?
0:08.8	That's your husband.
0:11.0	He's very handsome.
0:13.2	You think he's looking too.
0:15.2	I'm in a leafy Parisian suburb with 87-year-old Jussette O'Don.
0:20.0	A black and white photo of her husband Maurice in his 20s has pride of place on the dresser.
0:25.6	It's an iconic picture that many in France would recognise.
0:29.2	I'm Charlotte McDonald, and this is the Simon on the BBC World Service.
0:33.4	And where is this?
0:35.6	Jussette's daughter, Michelle, translates for me.
0:44.8	Today, Jussette and her family live in France, but they used to call Algeria home.
0:59.6	During the height of the Algerian War of Independence in 1957,
1:03.6	Maurice, only 25, was taken by the French army and never seen again.
1:10.6	At 87, Jussette has been campaigning for 60 years for the French state to take responsibility for the torture and killing of her husband.
1:20.6	In this week's assignment, I'm in France exploring the lasting impact of a conflict that ended 57 years ago.
1:29.6	Jussette is too frail to talk at length about her husband,
1:33.6	so we go to a nearby cafe where their daughter, Michelle, tells me about him.
1:59.6	Maurice taught maths at the university and lived with Jussette, Michelle,
2:04.6	and their two sons in an apartment in the country's capital, Algiers.
2:10.6	The country had been controlled by France since 1830,
2:14.6	and by the 1950s, Europeans formed one-tenth of the population, including the Odense.
	...

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