Emmanuel Macron acknowledged, in a letter to Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye that BFMTV was able to obtain, that French colonial forces had committed a “massacre” at Thiaroye, near Dakar, on December 1, 1944.
“France must recognize that that day, the confrontation between soldiers and riflemen who demanded payment of all their legitimate pay, unleashed a chain of events that led to a massacre,” says the content of the letter from the President of the Republic this Thursday. . , November 28, 2024.
“It is also important to establish, as far as possible, the causes and events that led to this tragedy,” continues Emmanuel Macron. “Given our relations of friendship and brotherhood, our common history and our desire to build a harmonious future, we owe each other truth and justice.”
The number of victims remains uncertain
More than 1,600 riflemen, former German prisoners of war who had participated in the fighting in 1940, gathered at Thiaroye at the end of 1944.
On December 1, two weeks after their arrival in the camp and while demanding payment of their back salaries and various combat bonuses and allowances, colonial forces shot at them.
French authorities then admitted the deaths of at least 35 people. Several historians speak of a much higher number of victims, up to several hundred.
80 years later, commemorations will be held this weekend at the Thiaroye military cemetery.
Source: BFM TV
