Jewish supermarket attacked by Paris militant reopens
Kosher market badly damaged during terror attack that killed four Jewish hostages reopens with new staff after full renovation.
The Paris kosher supermarket where four hostages were killed in January by an Islamist gunman reopened on Sunday morning to "show that life is stronger than barbarity," supermarket officials and France's interior minister said.
The Jan. 9 attack on the Jewish foodstore by Amedy Coulibaly, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and also killed a policewoman in a separate attack, had been coordinated with two other gunmen who killed 12 people at satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo two days earlier.
"There we are, we are open again," the new manager, Laurent Mimoun, told local media, wearing a black kippa and visibly moved in the supermarket, completely refurbished and bearing no trace of the deadly attack.
"We are thinking about all the victims, this has been the driver behind reopening the shop," he said.
The shop reopened with an entirely new staff since those present at the time were still recovering from the attack on sick leave, according to shop managers.
"It is important to pay respect to the memory of those who fell under the fire of barbarity," Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said as he attended the reopening, which took place under heavy police surveillance.
France has both the largest Jewish and Muslim populations in Europe, leaving people to fear heightened tensions after the attacks and authorities to insist all would be protected.
"This foodstore reopens bravely to show that life is stronger than everything," Cazeneuve said, adding that French authorities would "do everything so that all French people can live freely."
The attack prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to invite French Jews to emigrate, leaving French Prime Minister Manuel Valls scrambling to reassure the community it was safe and an integral part of France.
The Hyper Cacher group said in a statement released by local media that the reopening was a sign of the resilience of France's Jewish community.
"With (this) we reaffirm that life will always be stronger than barbarity. We are more determined than ever to allow our clients to eat kosher," the statement said.
The victims of the attack on the suprmarket, all Jews, were identified as Yoav Hattab, 21, the son of the Chief Rabbi of Tunis, Philippe Braham, in his 40s, Yohan Cohen, 22 and Francois-Michel Saada, in his 60s. One of them - reportedly Yohan Cohen - tried to snatch one of the attackers weapons away and was shot in the head.
Marie, a Jewish customer who had been one of the hostages inside the Kosher supermarket, described the first moments of the attack when Coulibaly arrived at the supermarket.
"He came in wearing a bullet-proof vest. He had two Kalashnikov rifles, a gun and a knife. He shot two people at the entrance. One of the customers tried to take one of his weapons, but was unable to fire. (Coulibaly) shot him in the head immediately," said Marie. The brave customer is believed to be Yohan Cohen.
Marie, who was interviewed by the BFMTV TV channel, described a horrifying scene inside the supermarket. She said one male victim lay on the ground and died during the wait for police to arrive at the scene.
According to Marie, one of the supermarket workers was able to hide and direct police forces on how to enter the site while another individual was able to flee to an elevator, carrying the keys to the supermarket with him, which he took to the top floor of the market where he left the building using an emergency exit. He was then able to give the keys to police.
Despite the scarring scenes she witnessed, Marie says she will not let the attack frighten her. "I have no intention of staying locked up at home and or being scared," said Marie after the attack.
It all ended at dusk Friday with near-simultaneous raids at the printing plant and the kosher market in eastern Paris.
As scores of black-clad security forces surrounded both sites, booming explosions, heavy gunfire and dense smoke heralded the news that the twin sieges had ended.
The three gunmen were dead - but the authorities also discovered four dead hostages at the market. Sixteen hostages were freed, one from the printing plant and 15 from the store.
AFP contributed to this report.
