Merah case, ten years later: “We quickly understand that life will no longer be the same”, testifies Jonathan Chetrit, former student of the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse
A former student of the Ozar Hatorah school, Jonathan Chetrit experienced the terrorist attack perpetrated in Toulouse by Mohammed Merah from the inside. He pulls out a book Toulouse March 19, 2012. The attack on the Ozar Hatorah school by those who lived through itwhere he collected the words of many witnesses.
Through numerous testimonies, Jonathan Chetrit, 27 years old today, publishes a moving book on the massacre perpetrated by the scooter killer whose name is never pronounced. Three children and a teacher lost their lives that day.
How did the idea for this book, “Toulouse March 19, 2012”, on the massacre of your school come about?
After the attack, I needed to write for myself, on a personal basis. And then the time passed. This need was always present but I did not know how to comment and from what angle to approach this drama. Over the years, I saw no real use for it. Then, the health crisis and confinement arrived and something clicked. I wanted to tell this story by having witnesses speak and by collecting numerous testimonies from students of the Ozar Hatorah school. As a former high school student at the time of the tragedy, I had this legitimacy. I launched calls to all the former students to explain to them the project of this book.
All responded positively?
Many former students found the idea very beautiful. I said to myself that there was a real need, an emergency and they came to see me spontaneously. Others refused. But on the whole, the adhesion was total. Afterwards, the structure of the book fell into place.
You have chosen to also recount the days preceding this massacre, in the form of a chronology. Explain to us?
I found it important to show the atmosphere at school a few days before the tragedy. It’s a family atmosphere, everyone is united, there are activities within the school. I describe a little the banality, the daily life of our lives before March 19, 2012, the very light classes, the proximity with our teachers, since we are lucky to be few in class, and this peaceful climate. An atmosphere of peace with always benevolent people. And this attack comes to destroy this beautiful balance in a few seconds. This is what hurts so much. From there, we quickly understand that life was no longer going to be the same for each of us.
This March 19, 2012, between 7:56 am and 8 am, you are there, in your school. What’s going on, what are you doing?
I had little opportunity to say it but when the first shots burst, it is impossible to understand what is happening. We say to ourselves, these are firecrackers. But when the principal education adviser comes running towards you to tell you that there is a shooter in the school, then you say to yourself that it had to happen one day. This idea crossed my mind for a few seconds, due to the traumatic past of the Jewish community and its history. This thought lasts a handful of seconds. I tell myself there we are, we were not safe, even here. Then I go into action mode. I secure the children and lead them to shelters, students run up to me because I am the tallest. We walk towards the synagogue’s emergency exit, towards another building to get away from the gunshots. But through a window, I see the shooter dressed in black with a white helmet. During our flight, I also see a small body fall. Later I found out that it was Myriam, the daughter of Mr. Monsonego, the school principal.
What do you understand of this attack in the hours and days watching?
We understand afterwards that it is an anti-Semitic and Islamist attack. For us, at that time, it is not a solitary act. The Montauban killings and the first soldier killed in Toulouse quickly come to mind. We are with our suffering and we manage, during these first days, the anguish and the pain.
It’s time for the trial…
A painful moment. A reconstruction of this drama. We learn the life trajectory of the killer and his brother who is tried as an accomplice. Despite the work of the magistrates, we don’t learn much in the end because we don’t have rational explanations. We are not born racist or anti-Semitic, it is education that behind all this has forged the state of mind and the thought of the killer. There are no mitigating circumstances. Moreover, the killer’s brother (Editor’s note: Abdlekader Merah is definitively sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2019) does not recognize the laws of the Republic and for him they will always be inferior to his own laws. So from there, we know that we have nothing to wait for. This trial made it possible to note this hatred of the accused towards France and against the Jews. He did not feel concerned by the laws of the land.
Life goes on, despite all that…?
I am rebuilding myself in Paris where I live and where I practice my profession as a tax lawyer. A drama like this does not go away. So we make sure that the handicap is not too heavy to bear. Ten years later, I wanted to end this book with a note of optimism because you have to believe in life, it is stronger than death.