(JTA) — French President Francois Hollande unveiled a memorial plaque outside the Paris-area kosher supermarket where an Islamist killed four Jews last year.
Hollande’s visit on Tuesday morning to the Hyper Cacher launched the official commemorations of the first anniversary of three terrorist attacks that rocked France last January. The plaque he unveiled listed the names of those killed at the market on Jan. 9, 2015.
In addition to the plaque at Hyper Cacher, Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Tuesday unveiled a plaque at the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine with the names of the 12 victims of the Jan. 7 terrorist attack there two days earlier. Two brothers who were associates of the Hyper Cacher killer perpetrated the attack.
Also, a third plaque was unveiled in the city’s south carrying the name of a police officer shot dead on Jan. 8, 2015 by the Hyper Cacher killer.
The assailants died in shootouts with police on Jan. 9.
Several hundred people convened at each of the locations. The families of the Hyper Cacher fatalities were also present, the French news agency AFP reported.
On Saturday, thousands are expected to gather outside the supermarket for a commemoration ceremony for all 17 victims of the January killings being organized by two French Jewish institutions — CRIF, the main umbrella group, and the Consistoire, which provides religious services.
Separately, last week the Israeli musician Shai Barak released a song and video clip titled “Je Suis Juif,” French for “I am a Jew” and one of the slogans against extremism heard following the three January 2015 killings.
Performed in Hebrew, English and French, the video received 47,000 views on YouTube and features performances by Jewish artists from around the world. They include Gad Elbaz, Ishay Lapidot, Aaron Razel, Mendy Jeruffi, JEW2 and the head cantor of the Israel Defense Forces, Shai Abramson.
