Senior Jewish officials said on Friday that Hyper Cacher, the kosher supermarket that was targeted in a terrorist attack in January that left four people dead and deeply shook France’s Jews, will open its doors on Sunday.
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| Hyper Cacher |
The supermarket has been closed since Jan. 9, when Amedy Coulibaly, a heavily armed Frenchman, lay siege to the supermarket in Porte de Vincennes in eastern Paris, holding hostage shoppers who had come to buy supplies for the Sabbath.
Since the attack, the supermarket has become a potent emblem of a hate crime that spawned national soul searching about anti Semitism in France and the perils of Islamic extremism, while prompting some Jews to question their future in the country.
Mourners have laid flowers in front, where portraits of the four victims remain. Police officers have patrolled outside the store, whose makeshift memorial has become a destination for residents and tourists.
Since the attack, the supermarket has become a potent emblem of a hate crime that spawned national soul searching about anti Semitism in France and the perils of Islamic extremism, while prompting some Jews to question their future in the country.
Mourners have laid flowers in front, where portraits of the four victims remain. Police officers have patrolled outside the store, whose makeshift memorial has become a destination for residents and tourists.
Robert Ejnes, executive director of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France, said the reopening of the supermarket was a sign of the resilience of France’s Jews after the trauma of the attacks.
“It shows that the Jewish community in France goes on with life,” he said. “Even though we are very affected with great sorrow for the four people who died, life must go on. We want to show that whatever happens, life wins.”
Mr. Ejnes said the supermarket, newly painted white, would open on Sunday with little fanfare, in deference to its owner’s wishes to treat the opening as “just another day.”
