May 8, 1945: French troops and released Italian prisoners of war kill an estimated 6,000 to 40,000 Algerian citizens in Algeria, then a French colony.
The ink is barely dry on the Nazis' articles of surrender, and already the next chapter of man's inhumanity to man is being written.
In response to French police firing on demonstrators during a protest in Sétif on May 8, native Algerians rioted in the town and attacked French settlers in the surrounding countryside, killing 102 people. The French colonial authorities and European settlers retaliated by killing thousands of Algerian Muslims in the region with estimates varying widely. The initial estimate given by French authorities was 1,020 killed, while the current Algerian government cites an estimate of 45,000 killed.
The Sétif and Guelma massacre leads to the Algerian War of Independence, 1954, to 1962, and the loss of the largest colony France has ever had. It also shows that Muslim anger at "the West" predated the Cold War. (In fact, it went back to the Crusades.)
*
May 8, 1945 was a Tuesday. The NFL was in its off-season. The NHL had recently completed its season. The NBA had not yet been founded. Major League Baseball had only 2 games scheduled for that day:
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
* The St. Louis Browns beat the Washington Senators, 7-1 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.
No comments:
Post a Comment