On October 13, 2023, a year ago to the day, Dominique Bernard, 57, was killed at the Gambetta-Carnot school campus by Mohammed Mogouchkov, 20. This Sunday around 9:30 a.m., the Place des Héros in Arras is still almost deserted but the dancers and musicians are finishing rehearsals for the tribute ceremony to the French teacher which is due to start around 11 a.m.
“Cultural memory sequence”
An alley facing the stage, lined with tables with hundreds of white roses, demarcates two spaces, one for relatives and the educational community of the Gambetta-Carnot school complex, the other for officials. Ministers Bruno Retailleau (Interior), Anne Genetet (Education), Agnès Pannier-Runacher (Ecological Transition) and Didier Migaud (Keeper of the Seals) are announced.
At 10 a.m., around fifty people have already arrived in the space reserved for loved ones, family, teachers… A few Arrageois are also starting to arrive, often with family, like Jean-Noël: “My daughter was in final year at Gambetta last year. She was an eyewitness and remained traumatized by what happened. The teachers and staff at the time came to support the parents and inform them. We were in anguish. I want to thank them for that. It’s important to be there to end a sequence of strong emotions and pay tribute to someone who had values that we share”
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