DAKAR – Senegal will on Sunday commemorate the massacre of dozens of African soldiers who had fought for then colonial ruler France by French troops in a Dakar suburb on 1 December 1944.
France has deliberately tried to erase from memory the mass killings of soldiers, known as “tirailleurs” (riflemen), from its various former African colonies, historian Mamadou Diouf told AFP.
The commemoration 80 years on is not just about remembering the gruesome anniversary but also an opportunity for the recently-elected government to establish its sovereignty, said Diouf, who teaches at Columbia University in New York.
“The commemoration is a political move. It announces a dual commitment to sovereignty and Pan-Africanism,” he said.
In November 1944, around 1 600 African soldiers who had fought for France and were made prisoners of war by Germany, were sent back to Dakar, French historian Armelle Mabon revealed.
Soon after arriving at the military camp in Thiaroye, just outside Dakar, they protested against pay delays, with some refusing to return to their home countries without their dues.
French forces opened fire on the protesters, killing at least 35, though historians say the actual figure could be much higher.
“France made every effort to hide (the narrative) by obstructing any reference to the massacre, hiding the truth about repatriated soldiers, the nature of the movement, the scope and means of repression, the death toll, the identification of the tombs,” said Diouf.
An official ceremony led by Senegal’s president will be held in Thiaroye every year in a departure from previous presidents Leopold Sedar Senghor, Abdou Diouf, Abdoulaye Wade and Macky Sall, whom the historian says kept silent on this episode in history.
A dedicated task force of academics, presided over by Diouf, will also turn in a “white book” to the authorities by April 2025, comprising social sciences and humanities research as well as literary and artistic works.
But the researcher said roadblocks stand in the way.
“The main challenge we are facing is the inflexibility of the French authorities who, until now… have refused to list the archives relating to the massacre, to allow access to them,” he stated.
“It seems to us that for 80 years, there has been a deliberate will to remove the massacre from public space,” he added.
Diouf leads a delegation of historians, archivists and documentalists appointed by Senegal in August in a bid to “go further in the manifestation of truth”, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko said.
The group will head to France in the coming weeks to discuss the access and digitalisation of the records Paris is holding on to.
Former French president Francois Hollande in 2014 vowed to return to Senegal a copy of all documents, a promise only “partially kept”, Diouf said.
“He handed over some records but not all. This is why it is difficult to establish the facts,” he stated.
“Some archives remain inaccessible or declared destroyed or non-existent, which historians are disputing,” he added.
Hollande at the time spoke of “events… simply appalling, unbearable”, and “bloody repression” against “men who wore the French uniform, and on whom the French had turned their guns”.
The goal is not to settle scores, stated the historian, who described the core issue as “an interrogation about a hidden event, an obstructed memory and falsified history”.
“This is not a condemnation of France. We should be able to draw moral consequences from this story, including claims for reparations. That is perfectly normal,” he said.
– Nampa/AFP