Fresque Missak Manouchian, Fresco in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, France
The Fresque Missak Manouchian is a large outdoor mural in the Saint-Fargeau neighborhood of the 20th arrondissement of Paris, showing a portrait of Missak Manouchian alongside an excerpt from his last letter. It was painted by street artist Artof Popof on the wall of a community garden.
Missak Manouchian was an Armenian immigrant and poet who led a group of foreign resistance fighters, the FTP-MOI, in Paris during the German occupation. On February 21, 1944, he and 21 of his comrades were shot by the Germans at Mont-Valérien.
The mural stands on the wall of a community garden near Rue du Groupe-Manouchian, a street named after the resistance group. Along that street, 23 large planters each carry a short biography of one of the fighters, paired with a piece of street art.
The mural is freely accessible at any time, as it stands outdoors on a garden wall. A free audio guide on smartphone is available nearby to follow the memorial trail along Rue du Groupe-Manouchian.
Before his execution, Manouchian wrote a last letter to his wife Mélinée from Fresnes prison, speaking of hope for freedom and the coming Allied victory. That letter was later taken up by the French poet Louis Aragon and is still read aloud at commemorations today.
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