- cross-posted to:
- europe@lemmy.ml
- globalnews@lemmy.zip
- cross-posted to:
- europe@lemmy.ml
- globalnews@lemmy.zip
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/26982927
On 25 February he said on air: “Every year in France, we commemorate what happened in Oradour-sur-Glane – the massacre of an entire village. But we have committed hundreds of these, in Algeria. Are we aware of this?”
He was referring to the village where an SS unit returning to the front in Normandy massacred 642 residents on 10 June 1944. Leaving a chilling memorial for future generations, the village was never rebuilt.
Challenged by the anchor over whether “we [the French] behaved like the Nazis”, Aphatie said: “The Nazis behaved like us.”
On X, he acknowledged his comments had created a “debate” but said it was of great importance to understand the full story over France’s 1830-1962 presence in Algeria, saying he was “horrified” by what he had read in history books.
After being suspended for a week by the channel it means that “if I come back to RTL I validate this and admit to making a mistake”.
I know nothing about French colonialism in Algeria and I immediately found a french massacre from 1945 with at least 6000 deaths.
Sounds like he has a point.
He definitely does. He quit because they wanted to “sanction” him for making that comment, and he thought that if he stayed on it would have given the message that he agreed with the sanction.
I think it’s smart of him to quit. I send him solidarity.
The French government does historical revisionism and tries to downplay atrocities commited by France. As a person with a French passport, I’ll support anyone who helps bring more light on to those downplayed atrocities.