others go to se him. They come out an hour later saying, 'nothing happened'. Decision is taken to occupy the Latin Quarter peacefully, not to provoke police but to defend ourselves if attacked. This was fol1 AM: Literallv thousands help build barricades (Europe no. Radio reported that more than 60 barricades were built in different streets), women, workers, bystanders, people in pyjamas, human chains to carry rocks, wood, iron. A tremendous movement is started Our group (most have never even seen the others before, we are composed of 6 students, 10 workers, some Italians, bystanders and 4 arusts wno joined later: we never even knew each other's names) organises the barricade at angle of Rue Gay Lussac and St Jacques. One hundred people help carry the stuff ana puc i across toe street. rrom then on I was so busy coordinating 2 AM: It is now obvious that police are preparing a powerful attack.
Radio announces we are surruonded and that government has ordered police to attack. (The Chief of Police insisted on the order in writing.) Some bystanders leave.
We continue building up barricades organising supply of rocks and medical centres every 100 yards. I try to coordinate runners between different barricades near ours but we lack time and are caught by attacks before we can get ittogether.
Practically no news from other points of our territory. Someone finds a French flag, we tear off blue and white part—red flag now floats are everywnere.
see. I try to run out, thinking to rejoin our forces further down but police are charging from both sides with grenades and big lethal truncheons; we are cornered. We organise inside building at least 60 students. some wounded. others fainting. We try to barricade the door. Some desperately ring door bells inside the house, nobody dares answer. We crowd starcases. Police arrive, break down door,grab a few and beat them to pulp, throw in three gas grenades which murder to our lungs and eyes.
Police leave to come back later. A girl on the second floor tells us to and she gives us water. Outside: explosions, explosions, explosions. over our barricade. I am told many red and black flags flew on other barricades. In front of us we turn over cars to prevent police from charging with their buses and tanks (Radio said tanks were coming but we never saw any) it also said 15,000 workers were on the way to help us from St Denis but were surrounded by the army. (They never materialised either, although a great many workers were already exploitation of the workers. helping us to construct barricades.)
I must insist again that the general idy taken trom a mood was defensive not offensive, we just wanted to hold the place like an entrenched sit-down strike and if we had not been savagely attacked there would not have been any violence at all. After days of occupation of the Sorbonne and surrounding area by heavily armed police it was the least we could do to hold our ground — the Latin Quarter. Police attack on Place de Luxembourg. Their tactics are simple: at 100 yards distance they launch gas grenades by rifle which blind, suffocate and knock us out.
This gas is MACE (Vietnam and Detroit mace). Also small explosive of the bourgeois university. grenades one student near us picked one up to throw it back, it tore his whole hand off (reported in Le Monde), tear gas and phosphorus grenades which set fire to the cars.
We defend as best we can and later we find out that practically every barricade withstood police at least an hour, sometimes four hours, places of work. regardless of blinding and suffocating gases. The police are slowly advancing up Gay Lussac (crowds are running away, we have a hard time calming them down and channeling them towards exit down Gay | 6am Lussac where police are fewer). But then police attack at three points simultaneously: at two extremities of Gay Lussac, at our barricade and at Rue d'Ulm. Casualties are heavy on our side, mostly people 6 AM: Still fighting outside. We knocked unconscious by gas, some all vote to call Red Cross anyway temporarily blinded. Thousands of because one of us is bleeding badly. voices shout together: ' De Gaulle We are scared of Red Cross beassassin", Liberez nos camarades, ' Revolution', 'A bas l'Universite cause they sometimes turn us in to the police, but other times protect bourgeoise. Some make molotovcocktails. I try to dissuade them for us, you never know. It is a fact that many Red Cross that tried to help fear of police massacre not so much wounded or faint students were of us but of thousands of onlookers, also beaten by police (see Le just standing there, fascinated. The Monde for details of this kind, of general feeling is of a trance. We police armament, gas, etc...) The feel liberated. Suddenly we have police are searching house by house. turned into human beings and we are shouting WE EXIST, WE ARE room by room. Anybody with black hands and gas spots on clothes (gas an incredibly heroic gesture, grabs attacks leather) or wounds is beaten a red flag and leads us towards the and arrested. (More than 500 arcops through the gas and grenades. rested in all.) We 60 decide to leave To our utter surprise we outnumber together in case we have to fight the enemy and they retreat. Crowds our way down the street: Helmets behind us cheer wildly. We come are given to girls. The sun is up. back behind our barricade, only one We run into the open in a body: slightly wounded. But gases are fantastic: what a sight! Smoking our worst enemy, we can't breath, barricades everywhere, overturned we can't see. Finally we are forced cars, street unpaved, for half a mile back. Our barricade burns. At this Painted words on walls: Vive la point all I can remember is that I Commune du 8 Mai, A BAS L'ETAT fainted from lack of air. I come to POLICIER. I can't help it, I run in a corridor two girls slapping my over to see our barricade. It still face and putting wet cloths on my stands, deserted; some onlookers, eyes. Water is the only thing that stunned, the unbelievable sight of helps. They tell me a student car- the empty battlefield. This Rue Gay ried me there. I look ourside: police Lussac was ours all night till about our barricade 4,30 am. OURS. I ask a student for across the street burning. Yellow It to a suck, pur barricade and run, police are charging on other side of street. I can hardly walk from pain. We circle round to Rue d'Ulm, there to police arresting everybody including those in medical centre. Barricades and cars smoking in every street and every corner. Passers-by warn us where police are; many people in cars and taxies volunteer to take us out of police zone. Everywhere we see enormous police buses full of our people tired, beaten, bloody are prisoners.
The revolution has begun. If you want to help us there is one way.
come in, we crowd in like sardines DO THE SAME THING JEAN-JACQUES LEBEI TRANSLATION OF RONEOD LEAFLET 1,000 wounded. Three Dead. Gassed in Action.
WHY?
Because students refuse to become accomplices and beneficiaries of the use they reject so-called " negotiations' which merely affect deci When this refusal passes from words to action (the occupation of lectur ooms, the showing of censored political films, boycotting exams, etc.
When for the workers this challenge has only one expression, VIOLENCE The bourgeois state has only one reply:
Blackmail with scholarships threats or expulsion BlaCKlIStS Police intervention Massive arrests Imprisonment.
IVE DENOUNCE
the reopening of the colleges for the sole end or passing examinations the attempts of the bureaucracies to turn a movement for total change in society into a simple reformist movement, enshrining the stagnatior WE REFUSE the normal functioning of the university until the liberation of the foreign students and the workers. From now on the students will occupy the local universities until we have won our political rights and the immediat removal of the sanctions against all those who are still menaced by the penal and administrative machine VE WILL NOT SURRENDER TO BLACKMAIL WE WILL DEMONSTRATE ON FRIDAY, 10 MAY, 18.30 HOURS, PLACE DEFERT ROCHEREAU.
Movement of 22 March Nanterre. Comité d'Action Lycéen.
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THE NIGHT OF MAY 10
We will not be the watch-dogs of capital
Ve must not be divided. We must set our determination against mounting We must organise to continue the struggle in our neighbourhoods and