"The wounds are not yet healed by nature" after the Algerian war, Benjamin Stora, historian and president of the Immigration Museum, told franceinfo.

Secretary of State to the Minister of ArmiesGeneviève Darrieussecq, announced Sunday, August 19 in the Journal du dimanche that on September 25 announcements would be made about the harkis.

The historian believes that "memories keep bleeding". It is estimated that in the early 1960s the French army recruited 250,000 people in Algeria to combat the independence of the country.

Franceinfo: is this a subject that is still sensitive, which would explain that there are still things that need to be done with regard to the doctrine of this period?

Benjamin Stora: Yes, because the Algerian war is at the same time a war of national independence for the Algerians, but also a civil war French-French, between the French who did not want the independence of Algeria and those who supported the case, Algerian. It was a real gap in French society that had a hard time getting through and is still struggling elsewhere. It took the strong personality of General de Gaulle to try to reach consensus at the time of Algeria's independence, but of course wounds are still not healed.

Can we unload today with the harkis?

I do not know. I think we should educate all problems, points, issues, discussions related to the Algerian war and affect many memory groups. The harki's, of course, but also the black feet, Algerians, immigrants and soldiers of the contingent since 1.5 million French soldiers went to Algeria. There are many memory groups that must be constantly addressed because the memories continue to bleed.

The State Secretary speaks about a possible recognition by the parliament of the fate of the Harki & # 39; s. What does it mean exactly?

Historians have always been suspected of stories about legislation or histories from history by Parliament, especially after what happened in 2005 when there was a voice in the French National Assembly that claimed that colonization had "positive aspects". We remember the indignation and since then no legislative memorandum has been proposed or discussed in the National Assembly. On the other hand, there can be solemn statements by the French Parliament in recognition of the tragic fate that the Harkis underwent at the time of Algeria's independence. There can be a kind of unanimity around the characterization of the "tragic" fate that was made in 1962 by all the factions on the Harkis. Making laws when it comes to writing history runs the risk of freezing history, which historians absolutely do not take into account.

There is also the issue of the repair fund. Halki families have been struggling for years to be created. Is the necessary compensation measured in euros?

It is very difficult to measure this because losing one's family, a territory, is a good insurmountable. On the other hand, there may be recovery measures that can be taken for each of the families who ask for it, as it is done, particularly with regard to Europeans from Algeria who left the country after 1962 and who have been compensated by different laws. A similar type of process can be implemented for harkis.