Event
Under French rule Oran had 250,000 inhabitants of European origin. On the morning of July 5, 1962, the day Algeria became independent, seven katibas (companies) of FLN troops entered the city. They were fired on by some Europeans. An outraged Muslim mob swept into the pied noir quarters of the city, which had already been largely vacated, attacking the estimated 40,000 European civilians who remained. The violence, which lasted several hours and included the throat cutting of men, women and children, was ultimately stopped by the deployment of French Gendarmerie.
Estimates of the total casualties vary widely. Local newspapers at the time declared that 1,500 were killed. Dr. Mostefa Naït, the post independence director of the Oran hospital centre, claims that 95 persons, including 20 Europeans, were killed (13 stabbed to death) and 161 people injured. Other sources claim that as many as 453 persons disappeared . 153 French residents are listed at the virtual memorial website.
No effort was made to stop the massacre either by the Algerian police or by the 18,000 French troops who were still in the city at that time. Orders from Paris were "do not move," leaving Europeans in Oran unaided.
Many French residents believed that the massacre was an expression of deliberate policy by the FLN, embittering them and spurring the exodus of pieds-noirs. While this is unproven the killings did mark the end of any hope of reconciliation between European and Muslim communities.
At the 1963 trial of Jean Bastien-Thiry, who attempted to assassinate President de Gaulle, defence lawyers referred to the Oran massacre and claimed that Bastien-Thiry's act was justified because de Gaulle had caused a genocide of the European population of Algeria.
Read more about this topic: Oran Massacre Of 1962
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