Socialist deputy Nathalie Oliveira proposed to the Paris City Council the installation of a monument in honor of the thousands of Portuguese who arrived at the Gare de Austerlitz, in time for the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the April 25 revolution.
“I had already passed the Gare de Austerlitz many times and it annoyed me that I couldn’t find anything that alluded to the passage of so many immigrants, thousands of Portuguese, through this station. At the end of August I went there. again and felt a very strong presence of ours. I went looking again and nothing, I called the historian Vítor Pereira who confirmed that there was nothing and I told him: ‘It can’t be like that'”, said the deputy, in statements to the Lusa agency.
Thus, this week, Nathalie Oliveira, the first French-born elected to the Portuguese parliament, met with Laurence Patrice, Councilor for the Conservation of Memory of Paris, and proposed the creation of a monument to mark the passage of the Portuguese in the Gare d’Austerlitz.
“I was somewhat afraid that the idea would not get much attention, but no, the councilor was very enthusiastic,” said the Socialist deputy.
In the 1960s and 1970s, many Portuguese, jumping around, reached the border between Spain and France, more precisely the French city of Hendaye, to then make the rest of the way to Paris by train and arrive at the emblematic Gare of Austerlitz. Many settled in the 13th and 14th districts, closest to this station, where there were many factories at the time, while others went to the outskirts of the capital.
So many Portuguese arrived in Paris through this station, that since 1966 the Lyautey committee, specialized in assisting immigrants, had a banner in Portuguese to welcome those who arrived, and in the following decade, the Portuguese consulate even installed a service station for their social services. services at the station.
“The question is knowing what form it will take, many times a work is commissioned from an artist and I thought of the poem by Manuel Alegre, which has accompanied my life, since my father made the journey by leaps and bounds, and I suggested this We are still in an initial phase of reflection, exchange and verification to find out where the tribute will be installed”, explained Nathalie Oliveira.
The poem the deputy suggested is “Portugal in Paris,” in which the Portuguese poet describes how he saw his “homeland dumped at the Gare de Austerlitz” on the streets of Paris, alluding to Portuguese immigration to France.
The project must now go through a phase of approval by the elected representatives of Paris, with Nathalie Oliveira building the proposal in collaboration with historians Vítor Pereira, principal investigator of the Institute of Contemporary History of the FCSH and one of the greatest specialists in Portuguese history. emigration in the century, and Yves Leonard, French historian specializing in the History of Portugal who recently published the book “Histoire de la nation portugaise” (Tallandier editions).
For Nathalie Oliveira, the inauguration should take place in 2024, as part of the official celebrations of the 50th anniversary on April 25, since many people who arrived in France were exiles, forced to leave their country by the Salazar regime.
“Now we are entering this sequence of the celebration of 50 years of Portuguese democracy and I thought it was a very appropriate moment to make the connection between those who were born and grew up without hope, freedom, in silence and with no other option than to leave the country and come to France,” he explained.
For the inauguration, the deputy is already thinking of retracing the path of the Portuguese who arrived 50 or 60 years ago, not only with emigrants, but also with high-ranking figures from the Portuguese State to pay tribute to the Portuguese community in France.
“It was good that both people who did it 50 or 60 years ago as well as important Portuguese political figures made a symbolic trip together between Hendaye and the Gare de Austerlitz in Paris, even though that route is no longer used today. I think this is essential. It was unfair and sad not to have marked these arrivals until now ”, he concluded.
Source: TSF
