Paris Community Prevents Far-Right Gathering at Charonne Cemetery
Paris, February 7, 2026 – Several hundred people mobilized on Saturday afternoon in front of Charonne Cemetery in the 20th arrondissement of Paris to oppose a potential far-right gathering at the grave of Robert Brasillach, a writer and antisemitic journalist executed in 1945 for collaboration with the Nazi occupation. This marks the second consecutive year that such a mobilization has successfully deterred the planned commemoration.
The event, organized by 25 different organizations including local antifascist groups, anti-racism and antisemitism collectives, and local sections of unions and political parties, drew a significant crowd. Following the protest, a festive village was set up in front of the Charonne church, featuring speeches, concerts, a theater workshop, and a children’s corner. Organizers reported over a thousand participants throughout the day, with local businesses, such as a nearby bakery, offering support by providing electricity.
Brasillach’s Grave: A Symbol of Conflict
Robert Brasillach, editor-in-chief of the antisemitic newspaper Je suis partout, was executed at the Liberation for “intelligence” with the Nazi occupier. Historically, far-right organizations like Action Française and GUD (Groupe Union Défense) have held annual commemorations at his gravesite around the anniversary of his death on February 6. However, the local community has actively resisted these gatherings.
For the first time in many years, far-right activists did not appear to commemorate Brasillach at the cemetery. The cemetery itself was “exceptionally” closed to the public on Saturday afternoon, with notices posted on the locked gates.
“We had information that they were supposed to come today, but they didn’t,” stated Ruben, a member of the Antifa Paris 20 collective, to actu Paris. He suggested that other gatherings may have taken place in the 7th arrondissement, where a far-right demonstration in homage to the dead of the February 6, 1934, anti-parliamentary riot was planned before being banned by the Prefecture of Police due to public order concerns.
A Victory for Local Mobilization
This successful mobilization follows a similar effort last year, where only a dozen people gathered at the grave, which had been vandalized the day before. They had also shifted their usual afternoon gathering time to the early morning hours, around 8:00 AM. In previous years, more than 50 individuals, often armed, had gathered at the cemetery. In 2024, 39 of them were even arrested.
The Prefecture of Police and the 20th arrondissement town hall did not respond to inquiries from actu Paris regarding the police presence this year. However, at least a dozen police vans and several dozen officers, including about twenty Brav-M units, were mobilized around the Charonne church and cemetery on Saturday.
Broader Fight Against the Far-Right
Activists frame their mobilization as part of a larger struggle against a spectrum ranging “from Brasillach to the National Rally” (also citing the Reconquête party). They highlighted that National Rally MP Caroline Parmentier had described Brasillach as a “hero” and a “model,” and that the party itself was founded by collaborators from Jacques Doriot’s circle, who was close to the head of Je suis partout.
Ruben emphasized the importance of confronting the far-right in significant locations where they organize. He described Saturday’s mobilization as an example of a “neighborhood mobilization that allows people to gather, to go out,” with a festive component that encourages prolonged presence.
Seven artists and groups performed on the square in front of the Charonne church until 8:00 PM. Further assemblies are planned in the coming weeks to follow up on the mobilization, which may see new editions in the years to come.
