Like ten years ago to the day, Paris woke up to bright sunshine and freezing temperatures on Tuesday January 7. Frozen in the winter cold and by the memory of the deadly attacks of January 7, 2015, the first day of a bloody week during which seventeen people were killed by Islamist terrorists.
A day of commemoration dominated by a secure and not really popular atmosphere, the public being carefully kept at a distance from the different ceremony locations, all “marked by sobriety, in accordance with the wishes of the families” as explained by the Paris town hall.
At the same time when, ten years earlier, the Kouachi brothers, armed to the teeth, appeared in the premises of Charlie Hebdoin search of their prey, some 150 people – survivors of the editorial staff, families of the victims and personalities – gathered in front of number 10 rue Nicolas Appert, in 11e district, where the killing took place. The place now houses a municipal police training school.
Bicycle racks were installed in front of the discreet entrance a few years ago, further trivializing the scene of the carnage. A plaque, affixed in January 2016 on the facade, pays tribute to the eleven victims. The name of Simon Fieschi, the webmaster of the satirical weekly, seriously injured during the attack and found dead on October 17, 2024, was added recently.
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