There were probably hundreds, to their own surprise, to gather on rue des Panoyaux, in Ménilmontant, this Saturday evening, in a collective farewell movement to the Saint-Sauveur. This bar, historic headquarters of the radical left and Parisian antifas, bowed out after 19 years of history. Its founder and owner, Julien Terzics, a historic figure in Parisian antifa, died last July of cancer. He had created this establishment to offer refuge to anti-fascist and radical left activists.
“I have the balls,” says Karim, a regular at the bar for several years. “This bar was the only one where I was comfortable. It was the only place where you could meet a certain population of Paris, between the punks, the anarchists, the antifas… And I don’t know where I’m going to find them. » A few meters further on, a young man, Pierre, joins us spontaneously: “I’m 30 years old today, I’ve been coming here since I was eleven. I was torn on the phone, when a friend told me: “It’s over”.
Whether they are teenagers, students or retirees, the regulars of Saint-Sauveur unanimously regret “an incredible place of life and freedom”, where there was “an unparalleled neighborhood life”, mixing trade unionists, feminist struggles and young people from the Saint-Sauveur district. la Banane, located a few meters further on. “We were here in a free place where we leave the problems outside, with a completely mind-blowing mix of everyone,” describes Sandrine, with stars in her eyes.
-Over the years, the bar has transformed into a real place of counterculture, leading to several projects, such as the creation of the Paris Banlieue anti-fascist Action or for example its own football team, Ménilmontant FC 1871. It has, more broadly, become a real place of life in the neighborhood. In recent years, the Saint-Sauveur had experienced several administrative closures, officially for nighttime noise, undermining the morale of its customers. “We know that the bar was accompanied by its sulphurous reputation, and that there was the gentrification of the neighborhood,” admits Karim.
After yet another closure costing him 15,000 euros, Julien Terzics wrote on the establishment’s Facebook page: “Because the new, trendy townsfolk who come to live in Ménilmontant, seduced by this “vibrant neighborhood”, don’t want “things happening” downstairs from where they live. (…) Because we are not ones to give in. » And if some still believe that someone will take up the adventure again, others philosophize: “Monuments are meant to be destroyed”.
