It’s been nearly 80 years since hundreds of Black West African soldiers who fought for France’s freedom against Nazi Germany during WWII were killed in cold blood by their fellow white officers in Senegal.
The Thiaroye massacre (French: Massacre de Thiaroye; pronounced [tja.ʁwa]) was a massacre of French West African veterans of the 1940 Battle of France, by French forces on the morning of 1 December 1944. These Tirailleurs Sénégalais units had been recently liberated from prisoner camps and after being repatriated to West Africa, they mutinied against poor conditions and defaulted pay at the Thiaroye military camp, on the outskirts of Dakar, Senegal. Between 35 and over 300 people were killed.