The Castle Hill in Nice, a place of leisure and relaxation for so many people from Nice, has, since yesterday, also become a place of memory and contemplation.
Christian Estrosi, in the presence of family members, authorities, and elected officials, unveiled a memorial stele in tribute to Hervé Gourdel, a mountain guide who was murdered on September 24, 2014, by jihadists in Algeria, while also honoring Corine and Anne Dechauffour, also from Nice, who were murdered a year earlier in Kenya.
The work was created by sculptor Roland Moreau in green granite, the same artist who created the monument to the repatriates and harkis, which can be seen on the Promenade des Anglais. The dimensions are substantial: 2 meters high, weighing 3 tons. Hervé Gourdel’s face is engraved on it.
The emotion was palpable, and the somber words of the Mayor of Nice’s speech contributed to it: “Let us honor the memory of the victims of terrorism and continue to fight all forms of barbarism.”
In this circumstance and others like it, and taking care to avoid any confusion, nothing can explain the acts of those who act in the name of a misguided cause that no reason can justify. They are not fighters but murderers, and the victims are those whose lives have been cowardly taken.
Christian Estrosi found the right words to conclude his speech: “It is what we owe to Hervé and all innocent victims of barbarism, so that their memory may always live on usefully.”
