Book | Archive | Gallery | Media
It is generally believed that the Harkis, those Algerians integrated into the French army during the war of liberation, either managed to flee to France or were massacred at the time of independence. This idea is completely false. In reality, most of them were not murdered and have been living in Algeria for half a century. A truth that is difficult to accept on both sides of the Mediterranean.
Book
For two years, I traveled thousands of kilometers throughout Algeria to find witnesses to this hidden history. Witnesses who, for the first time in their lives, agreed to speak. My book The Last Taboo, published in 2015 by Actes Sud, retraces the lives of these "Harkis" who remained in Algeria after independence, and who were not killed. Through these life stories, supported by new archives, we understand that the history of the "Harkis" is at the heart of a colonial system that oppressed the Algerian people for one hundred and thirty-two years.
Archive
The archives concerning the Harkis come mainly from the French army and date from before 1962. Like most crimes, the assassinations of Harkis in 1962-1963 produced almost no archives. Then the Algerian authorities considered that there were no more Harkis in Algeria. Therefore, no archives.
Gallery
In the Oran region, in Sidi-Ghilès, in Kabylia, in the Aurès, in Tebessa, etc. A gallery of portraits of these witnesses to a story that no one wants to hear, neither in France nor in Algeria.
Media
The publication of The Last Taboo provoked extensive media coverage in France and Algeria.