May 28, 1871. The day the Communard Eugène Varlin was shot by the Versaillese

2023-05-28 00:00:00

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PODCAST. This binder worker, socialist and libertarian, was one of the last to be shot on the Montmartre hill.

Par Frédéric Lewino, Gwendoline Dos Santos

Published on 05/28/2018 at 06:11
– Modified 05/28/2023 at 00:00

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We are the last day of the Bloody Week which puts a definitive end to the Paris Commune. The Versaillese massacred the last Communards defending the last Parisian barricades. At the end of the morning, that of Fontaine-au-Roy falls. A few Communards managed to escape, including Eugène Varlin, 31. He is a socialist and libertarian militant, member of the First International. Bookbinder worker, he had already stood out for having started strikes. It was he who wrote: “As long as a man can die of hunger at the door of a palace where everything is overflowing, there will be nothing stable in human institutions.” »

Exhausted, Verlin arrives at the Cadet crossroads, where he sits down on a bench. A priest in civilian clothes who passes by recognizes him and runs to denounce him…

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