From our special correspondent in Annecy (Haute-Savoie),
On the ground, on the synthetic lawns, a hundred flowers have been delicately placed alongside the stuffed animals and heart-shaped balloons. On the railings surrounding the playground, candles whose flame flickers at the time of the first drops of rain, are added to each other. The day after the knife attack in Annecy, the square, in which the victims were stabbed, four children aged 22 to 36 months and two adults, was transformed into a sanctuary. A place of contemplation, where everyone lingers a long time.
Knee bent on the asphalt, Sofiane hugs her little Brahim tightly, who is standing up. “It’s a park I’ve been going to since I was little, since I was 3 years old. Now I take my kids there. It’s unimaginable to think that this could happen in Annecy, which is a peaceful town where life is good, ”says the father of the family. And to resume: “Children are the most sacred thing in the world. How can an adult do this? Last night, each family replayed the scene in their heads, thinking that they could have been in the place of those of the victims. »
“Is it wrong, Dad?” », asks little Brahim shyly, tall as three apples and still wearing his bicycle helmet. “Yes,” Sofiane replies. “We spoke to him very vaguely about what happened because he is still very young. He’s not supposed to hear that at his age, so we just explained to him that a bad guy had hurt a boyfriend. And that it was not the right time to come and play here. »
“It could have been our little brother, our sister”
A few meters further, Romane, 16, jeans and burgundy T-shirt, puts an arm around the shoulders of his friend Flavia to comfort her. High school students, they came with their classmates to collect themselves. “I cut a flower from my garden this morning, even though my father forbids us to touch it,” smiles Flavia, dressed in a white dress. I do not know what this flower is called but I found it pretty. Yesterday, it could have been our little brother, our sister, someone around us. »
The two teenagers know the place well. They, too, went down the slides when they were kids. “Our high school is very close, points Romane with her finger. We eat in the park almost every day at noon. Yesterday we were supposed to come. We could have seen everything, it’s horrible. “Anyway, we have seen the videos circulating. They shoot in high school, I can’t. I muted the sound the first time. It’s too shocking”, how Flavia.
Margot turns up in the square, with a red rosebush in one hand, and that of her son Leone in the other. The young mother is accompanied by Nadine, her mother who brings her a yellow rosebush. “I am extremely upset by the events of yesterday,” she testifies as she has just slipped a note among the flowers placed on the ground.
“You can directly feel the same pain as the parents”
“Coming here is a way of communicating our love…”, continues Margot, before her voice is choked. “Sorry, it’s difficult, I can’t find the words”. Tears, which she tries to contain, slowly well up in her green eyes. “It’s not a question of proximity. There is no knowing whether we knew the families or not. But what happened touched my heart. As a parent, one can directly feel the same pain as families. »
Suddenly, Leone starts crying. His grandmother has just explained to him that today he won’t be able to play in the square. “It is sure that he is too small to understand, he is 22 months old, the same age as the youngest victim”, underlines Margot, caressing the curly hair of the small blond head in overalls. “To see such an act of barbarism on such pure, defenseless beings, it touches the deepest,” she concludes, moving away discreetly, while the ranks of the crowd continue to grow at the entrance to the park.