The Algerian embassy in Dhaka held a moving commemoration on Wednesday to mark 80 years since the mass killing of civilians by French colonial forces—a massacre that would later become the foundation for Algeria’s historic fight for independence.
Observed annually as the “Day of Memory,” the event honoured the estimated 45,000 Algerians killed in the days following May 8, 1945, when French troops violently suppressed peaceful demonstrations in towns such as Sétif, Guelma, and Kherrata.
The remembrance ceremony, attended by embassy officials and diplomatic guests, reflected on the heavy cost of colonial brutality, as well as the resilience of a people who turned mourning into mobilisation. “This day lives in our bones,” one official said, “because it not only brought sorrow—it gave birth to our freedom.”
On the day Germany surrendered to the Allied powers in World War II, Algerians poured into the streets, celebrating both the end of war and the prospect of their own liberation—promised in exchange for their wartime support. But those hopes were shattered. French forces responded to peaceful calls for independence with aerial bombings, naval shelling, and ground assaults, killing thousands over the course of several days.
The violence, far from silencing the nation, galvanized its people. Wednesday’s ceremony recalled how that moment became a historic turning point, leading Algerians to abandon diplomacy and engage in a full-scale independence war that ultimately led to sovereignty in 1962.
Since gaining independence, Algeria has achieved key milestones. The North African nation has diversified its economy beyond oil and secured a seat as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council—signalling its rising diplomatic influence.
In Dhaka, the embassy’s tribute served not only as a memorial to lives lost, but also as a reminder of Algeria’s enduring path from oppression to self-determination. As the world remembers the end of World War II, Algeria continues to honour a parallel story—one in which the end of one war sparked the beginning of another: the battle for its own future.