Paris massacre of 1961 — a crime committed in 1961 by the French National Police against hundreds of French Algerians, which was kept secret for decades
A mass killing of Algerians by French police during the Algerian War, suppressed for decades and acknowledged by the French government only in 1998.
Key Facts
- Date
- 17 October 1961
- Demonstrators present
- 30,000 people
- Deaths acknowledged by government (1998)
- 40 people
- Historian death toll estimate
- 200–300 people
- Commemorative plaque erected
- 17 October 2001, Pont Saint-Michel
- Police chief responsible
- Maurice Papon
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
During the Algerian War (1954–62), pro-National Liberation Front Algerians living in Paris organized a large demonstration of approximately 30,000 people. Maurice Papon, head of the Parisian police, ordered a crackdown, directing officers to be subversive in suppressing the protest and assuring them immunity from prosecution.
On 17 October 1961, the French National Police violently attacked the demonstration, beating protesters and throwing many into the river Seine. The assault resulted in mass casualties. French authorities and the press suppressed information about the killings for 37 years, with the government denying any significant death toll.
In 1998 the French government acknowledged 40 deaths, though historians estimate 200 to 300 Algerians died. Historian Jean-Luc Einaudi proved the massacre's intentional nature in a 1999 trial against Papon, who had separately been convicted of crimes against humanity for Vichy-era conduct. A commemorative plaque was placed on Pont Saint-Michel in 2001.