Oman Daily Observer, Sultanate of Oman
Sun, 15 January 2012

Radical roots

By Jeremy Tordjman –

AT 95, age has not diminished the radical convictions that led Arsene
Tchakarian to join France’s legendary Resistance. Tchakarian, a
Turkish-born Armenian, is the last survivor of the Manouchian Group,
mainly foreign Resistance fighters who were initially shunned for
their communist orientation but later decorated as war heroes and
feted in poetry, song and film.

He has worked to keep their legacy alive, belonging to a proud
tradition of radicals – such as fellow Resistance nonagenarian
Stephane Hessel, whose 2010 pamphlet Indignez Vous! (Time for
Outrage!) turned into a surprise best-seller, urging a popular
movement against finance capitalism.

The title inspired Spain’s Indignados (The Indignant), among masses
worldwide who have taken to the streets to protest government
austerity programmes seen as punishing ordinary people for the
excesses of big business.

Tchakarian said: `With the crisis, we are destroying countries. … It
is here, now, the real dictatorship.’

Tchakarian, a struggling apprentice tailor when he came to Paris in
1930, has been showered with decorations for his wartime activities
including the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest award.

Though he concedes he lives an easier life these days, Tchakarian says
he remains a radical `revolted by the capitalist system’. `I’ll always
belong to the working class,’ he said.

Tchakarian was part of a network run by fellow Turkish-born Armenian
Missak Manouchian. While many comrades, including Manouchian, were
hunted down and executed, Tchakarian and a handful of others survived
to tell their story.

With the death in November of fellow veteran 90-year-old Henry
Karayan, he sees his mission as all the more important. `In a way, I’m
the last of the Mohicans,’ he joked.

In February 1934, he was among a group of communists who fought French
fascists outside parliament during riots that some left-wing
commentators have described as a coup attempt by the far right. He
later became active in the left-wing Popular Front alliance.

Tchakarian fought under the codename `Charles’ as the group carried
out attacks including the September 1943 ambush of S S General Julius
Ritter, whom they gunned down in a Paris street.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress