This was echoed by most of the international press, who at best suggested that perhaps the police response was a tad firmer than absolutely necessary. But in France itself, there was rigorous state censorship – films and photographs were seized and destroyed, and journalists found their reports buried or edited to match the official line that it was a riot that was firmly dealt with by the police. It’s not that there were no accounts of these events at the time – the arrest, beating and murder of so many could hardly go unnoticed in the centre of Paris. That it isn’t widely known about – was barely spoken of at all until the 1990s – is the result of one of the most successful cover-ups of our time. This happened in Paris, in 1961, to Algerians and others of North African origin, in the context of the Algerian War and terrorist activity by the FLN. Probably – and we’ll never know for sure – 200 of the demonstrators are killed. Some are beaten and thrown into the river, or hung from trees and lampposts. Some of these are herded into buses and taken to a nearby sports stadium, where they are interrogated and beaten up. The police are ready for them, their instructions to pay back one blow with ten, with the assurance that whatever happens, they have the backing of their superiors. But the reception, as they emerge from the stations and move towards their meeting place, is anything but peaceful. There are about 30,000 demonstrators, men, women and children, many in their Sunday best, a signal of their peaceful intentions. A demonstration is scheduled in the heart of the city, against a curfew recently imposed on certain sections of the population.
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