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Repression of Sétif - Guelma - Kherrata, May 8, 1945

It was a time when people around the world were celebrating. Fascism had just collapsed. The Algerian people, who had made a great contribution to this ideal of freedom, celebrated the event in their own way. If exploitation, humiliation and poverty had matured him, the war gave rise to hopes of liberation. He then went out into the streets to demand his rights, to proclaim his national identity through calm and peaceful demonstrations. But the colonialist forces found in these demonstrations a favorable and sufficient opportunity to savagely repress an unarmed and defenseless population. The entire repressive machine, soldiers, cannons, tanks and aircraft, was set in motion. The repression was indiscriminate, a real butchery ensued: raking, burning, destruction. It was a frightening massacre. In Sétif and Guelma, 45,000 human lives were sacrificed and Kherrata was completely destroyed by naval bombardments. At the end of that day of May 8, 1945, the Algerian people understood that they would only be free and independent by responding to oppressive violence with organized revolutionary violence. The blood shed would sow the seeds of resurrection and prepare for the glorious November 1, 1954. It has been thirty years and Algeria remembers its martyrs. Of those who died to stop dispossession, exploitation and injustice. The place occupied by May 8, 1945 in popular memory is immense. May 8, 1945 and November 1, 1954 are two closely linked dates which will leave an indelible mark on the history of the Algerian people.