ten years later, “no one has really forgotten”

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On December 26, 2024, a big blue sky floods Paris and its inhabitants. For the Jewish community, in the midst of Hanukkah celebrations (from December 25 to January 2), the day seems ideal for stocking up on shopping at the Hyper Cacher in the Porte de Vincennes (20th). A semblance of normal life for a population and a place affected by horror on January 9, 2015.

Ten years ago, Amedy Coulibaly – already wanted for the murder of a police officer in Montrouge (Hauts-de-Seine) the day before – killed four Jewish people and took 16 people hostage in the premises of the convenience store. With the attack against Charlie Hebdo on January 7, these are in total 17 people killed in two days in Paris by three terrorists.

On site, not everyone has turned the page. After a brief presentation to explain our presence, a customer replied very politely: “It’s too hard to talk about it”. Before continuing on his way, the man turns towards us and apologizes, with tears in his eyes, for being able to answer our questions.

Within the Hyper Cacher team, the answer is also very clear. “ We don't have the right to speakindicates the store manager to Paris news. Anyway, what do you want us to tell you? No one was there when it happened.”

“It feels like we’re coming back to another store”

Indeed, after this dark day, none of the eleven employees at the time wanted to return to their position. According to Olivier, this is not the only notable change in the store. “They completely reorganized the shelves, because the store had been quite damaged. We have the impression of returning to another store even if we necessarily know the symbolism of the place,” deciphers this regular, present on site the day before the hostage taking.

However, the resident of Kremlin-Bicêtre (Val-de-Marne) claims to be “always as emotional” when he comes to do his shopping. “At the beginning, when I came, I thought about it, now, less, but it’s true that no one has really forgotten,” he explains.

Sandrine remembers this day perfectly, because she was on site, ten minutes before the arrival of Amedy Coulibalybut also from this period because she had lost her husband. “I was traumatized,” she confided to Paris newsvery moved to talk about this “sad” year 2015. “Ten years later, it’s still moving, we remember it regularly,” she adds.

“It’s always important to come here”

Another customer who wishes to remain anonymous, confirms “always think about it a little”, but assures that “ life has taken over. When we are in the store, we concentrate above all on our shopping, so it avoids thinking about it.”

When you live in the neighborhood, it's first and foremost a supermarket. It has to remain a place of life and we try not to look too much into the past.

A point of view shared by Sandrine who, despite her trauma, continues to go to the convenience store. “It's important to come hereso I ignore it. Plus, we have our habits,” explains the fifty-year-old. The desire to continue living and not give in to panic is a feeling shared by all the regular customers of Hyper Cacher. “I know what happened, I have understood it, but I will not stop coming,” says Annaëlle, for example.

A gathering organized for ten years

But unlike Annaëlle who explains not to be “afraid”, Olivier explainsbe suspicious when he visits the store located a stone's throw from the ring road and Saint-Mandé (Val-de-Marne). “Sometimes I think it could start again,” he admits, speaking of a “deep feeling of insecurity.”

For this other regular customer, it's the same feeling, but with a different analysis. “Our problem is the present. So much has happened in France over the past ten years that in the end, this episode (of Hyper Cacher) is just one more among the others,” he regrets. However, when describing your neighborhood, the terms are rather laudatory: residential, lively, quiet and where life is good. “But we have to always be on the lookout and cautious.”

Like every year, a tribute will be paid to the victims on January 9. This ceremony will be organized by the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF). “It’s very important to celebrate this memory,” admits a Hyper Cacher customer who will be present, as he has been for ten years.

The same day, an evening of “debates and tribute” will take place atthe Mutuality of Paris. It will be hosted by Charlie Hebdo and CRIF.

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