Victor Pourcher
Since Thursday, the archives of the Algerian war have been available for consultation. A decision recorded 15 years before the legal deadline by an interministerial decree, the result of a long struggle between archivists and historians. But ultimately, what will we find in these boxes?
Put end to end, these boxes and archival registers on the Algerian war can be counted in hundreds of meters. Inside the boxes, legal documents. Until then, only researchers could consult them by special dispensation. Since Thursday, they have been freely accessible.
Documents open to all
“There is an investigation file with a complaint, a police report, a judgment … Anyone can come and consult these documents without having to justify any research or any interest”, explains Céline Guyon, president of the Association of archivists of France.
Make discoveries
There are thousands of pages there. It’s a dive into an ocean of information. Many are waiting for discoveries, such as Pierre Mansat, president of the Josette association and Maurice Audin, who campaigned for the opening of the archives.
“It will allow us to understand how France led the fight against separatist militants. And then, above all, which concerns the Organization of the Secret Army, the OAS and OAS terrorism. The investigations into the struggle of the secret services such as the police. And there are entire areas that were not accessible. ” If they are now available for everyone to consult, there is still a difficulty: some families block access to private archives which could prove to be decisive.