Legacy of the French Resistance: Rival factions joined forces, ‘to promote a certain idea of France’

When France hosts grandiose ceremonies commemorating D-Day, the heroic role of Missak Manouchian and other foreigners among French Resistance fighters in World War II is often overlooked.

French President Emmanuel Macron sought to change that Wednesday by inducting Manouchian into the country’s Panthéon national monument.

A poet who took refuge in France after surviving the Armenian genocide, Manouchian was executed in 1944 for being a leader in the resistance to the Nazi occupation. Macron praised Manouchian’s “love for France to the point of giving his life” in a speech at the Panthéon, the resting place of France’s most revered figures, in the presence of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. “He wanted to be a poet, he became a soldier in the shadows,” Macron said.

The moving tribute also honored 23 other members of Manouchian’s Resistance group. Their names, to be mentioned on a commemorative plaque, were read one by one, followed by the phrase “Died for France,” a high honor in the country.

As France honors foreign Resistance fighters and inducts WWII hero Manouchian into the Panthéon, FRANCE 24’s François Picard and Marc Perelman are joined by Dr. Andrew Smith, Historian of modern France and Lecturer in Liberal Arts at Queen Mary University of London.