Book | Archive | Gallery | Media
What was the actual fate of the Pieds-Noirs in Algeria after independence? For almost 70 years, everyone has thought that they all left for France to avoid being killed by Algerians. For this million French Algerians, it was, apparently, 'the suitcase or the coffin!' The historical reality is different, since 200,000 of them (20%) decided not to give in to the panic and to remain in their country.
Book
After three years of investigation in France and Algeria, I published the first book on these Pieds-Noirs who didn't do what the others did. Released in 2012 by Actes Sud, Neither Suitcase nor Coffin tells the story of these 200,000 Pieds-Noirs who remained in Algeria after 1962.
Archive
The presence of the Pieds-Noirs during the French colonization of Algeria is very present in the archives. It is significantly less so afterwards, but it exists!
Gallery
Jacques Choukroun, Fernand Galinari, Denis Martinez, Chantal Lefèvre, Jean-Bernard Vialin, Jean-Paul and Marie-France Grangaud, ... A gallery of characters encountered during my investigation.
Media
The release of my book was well received by the media. However, it was attacked by certain leaders of associations for Repatriates from Algeria, who could not accept the idea that it was possible to live in an Algerian Algeria, on an equal footing with the 'Arabs'.