Conference at the Memorial – Postcolonial history and memory of the massacre of the Thiaroye riflemen, 1 December 1944

The Caen Memorial invites you to a historical conference on the postcolonial memory of the massacre of the Thiaroye riflemen on 1 December 1944. With Martin Mourre, historian, affiliated to the Institut des mondes africains (IMAf, CNRS, UMR 8171).
On 1 December 1944, West African riflemen returning from Europe after more than 4 years of captivity in France were killed at the Thiaroye military camp, near Dakar, by their own French officers, simply for demanding money owed to them. This tragedy became part of the Senegalese national fabric through various social, cultural and political processes, first before independence and then after, right up to the present day. This conference will look back at the history of this massacre and the meaning that can be given to it, both in France and in West Africa, at a time when issues of remembrance surrounding colonisation are playing an increasingly important role in public debate.

• Free for all