Inside Hyper Cacher

source: MSN reprint from Paris Match

tanslation: doxa-louise

«To my mind, it is the Sabbbath which saved us!»

Paris-Match: Zarie, you are an employee of the Hyper Cacher at Porte de

Vincennes. How did the attack begin?

Zarie. It was between 13hr and 13hr30. There was a father with a two-year old child at my check-out when I heard a gunshot on Yohann (Cohen), the young man who works with me, and was the first to be hit. He shouted the name of the boss who, wounded, managed to leave the store. I didn’t realize at first it had been a real gunshot.

You were not hurt?

No. I heard gunshots and screams, and steps coming in my direction. I heard the voice of the killer telling me: «Aren’t you dead yet, you?» And a shot noise in my direction.

How many were you in the store?

We were 25 at first, but after the shots, there were only six people left in my vicinity. I got that the others were in hiding. The terrorist ordered me to help him and I asked him to stop killing. When I entered the office where he told us to go, I saw someone in a pool of blood. (Philippe Braham). For the first time, I saw the face of the terrorist and his armements.

What did he say?

He told us what his plans were: «I want to die a martyr and avenge the name of Allah. The diffrence between us, is that for you Jews, life is the most important thing, while for us it is death».

Then he told us to put all our things and identity papers on the desk. He told me to shut the glass door to the store. I was staring to do this when I saw a man trying to get in. I begged him to leave in a panicked voice. But he thought I was merely closing the store. He told me: «I only need a ‘hallapour chabbath!’» I wasn’t able to stop him or warn him there was a killer just behind me.

Was is François-Michel Saada?

Yes...Yohan was suffereing terribly. He was moaning and there was nothing we could do for him. In fact, he had received a bullet in a cheek which totally tore his face. He agonized for three quarters of an hour. It was truly awful. He died as blood left his body.

And the killer did nothing?

No, he wanted to finish him off because of the moaning but we stopped him, thinking he might make it. The terrorist had with him two kalachnikovs and a submachine gun on his shoulder, explosives,  a ton of ammunition and a knife. He ordered me to go down to get the other clients and gave me 20 seconds to do it, or else he would kill two women he had designated.

You went down to the cold rooms?

Yes, some were hiding there but did not want to come out. I went back to tell him and he told me to call the police while putting on the loudspeaker. Dialing 17, we reached the police operator. We waited some long minutes, which was crazy, given the situation. Finally, he explained that this was a hostage taking and the policewoman said she would have to contact her superiors. The conversation was interrupted as prisonners started coming back up.

Did the killer explain what his motives were?

Yes, he explained that his commando had split in two: the Kouachi brothers to get rid of Charlie Hebdo and himself to look after the police and us.

Her sent someone else downstairs to get the hiding clients and two or three people came up with among them, Yoav (Hattab). The latter started to analyse the situation, in order to take action. He couldn’t see the dead and didn’t fully realize what was going on. At that moment, I crept away. Yoav started to speak to the killer who had put down one of his kalachikovs, trying to seize one. But the terrorist was quicker than him and shot two bullets in his head. I was at a few meters, and someone told me to lift the iron curtain, something which normally takes a few minutes. The terrorist started to yell in my direction. Yoav fell, bent on himslef and there was a lot of blood, I have never seen so much. I thought the terrorist was going to kill me, but he asked me to follow him into the office. I had to push away the caddy holding up Yoav who then fell to the ground.

How many hostages were you?

We were 18. I know because he asked me to do the count. He was talking to the police and annouced that there were three dead and one wounded. We all sat on the caddies lining the back of the store. The killer sat down and started to talk to us. He asked us for our names and religions. Everybody was Jewish except one woman who was Catholic and an old lady who insised she was not Jewish. He mocked her saying: «If you are not Jewish, why are you shopping at Hyper Cacher? I, for one, am from Mali and a Muslim. I have come to seek vengeance for my brothers from the French State which you support with your taxes». While loading his arms, he told us how the French army was killing people in his country but nobody was talking about it. We were sure these were our last moments on earth. In point of fact, he wanted his hostage taking to receive media attention. He called BFM TV and left us free so I coud call my father who re-assured me and told me to pray. I then talked to my mother and I was very moved. I started to cry. She told me to find strength in laemouna (faith). I then explained to Andrea (the other cashier) that we were going to get through this but that we had to strengthen ourselves through lesmitsvoth (good deeds). Next to us there was a woman not afraid at all who told us all was in the hands of hachem (divine Providence) , for good. I recited the psalm «essa enaï el heharim» (Chir Hamaalothn 121), it is the first that came to my mind. «I lift my eyes toward the mountains, to see whence my savation will come. My salvation will come from the Eternal, who made heaven and earth.»

He left you alone?

In point of fact, the hostage taking lasted almost five hours and a situation of relative trust emerged. He left us free to move around and after having asked someone to break all the cameras in the store, he offered us drink. He then started to talk to us about geopolitics and we were in agreement with him hoping to calm  him down. At one point, he pointed his arms toward Andrea who covered her face with her hands to protect heself, but he reassured her, saying: «I am not going to shoot you!». He had just killed four people in cold blood yet was surprised that we could be scared. Thankfully we were many. We helped each other at the moment when one would break down. I encouraged the hostages to make good resolutions and find strength in respect for the Torah.

Was he ever violent with you?

His attitude was actually bizarre. He would occilate between pitiless crime and a reassuring tone. he kept repeating that, if he got what he wanted, he would not kill us. He wanted to get a message to the media so that the French army would leave all the countries where it had operations and asked as well that the Kouachi brothes n their printer’s lair be let go. I was sure we would never get out alive, given the nature of the demands. He said that if he was allowed to make his declaration on television, the two-year old baby would be released.

Meanwhile, Aviel, the security agent (who was not one of the hostages) , gave information to the police. He called the armed forces and gave them the floorplan to the store, where the exits were etc. Patrice, the boss, who had managed to flee at the beginning, had been taken to hospital in serious condition.

The terrorist talked to us for a long moment about media, Ben laden, etc. and told us his story: he had just left prison after four years, although he had been condemned to five. We started giving drinks to people. He was overlooking us while making a sandwich. He was cracking jokes about security in the store. The phone kept ringing incessantly. When we answered, people would ask us what was going on. At one point, we got a call from someone who was concerned that terrorism was giving a bad name to Muslims. We unplugged the phone. We were in wait mode. Inside the store, there was blood everywhere.

Was the police there?

We had no idea what was going on outside. Initially, the killer had asked me where the emergency exit was and had asked someone to block it. After his speech, he decided to recite his prayer. We feared the worst. Then we heard banging on the barricaded emergency door. We hid on the other side, in back of Andrea’s check-out. It was total panic. We all lay on the floor, with our hands on our heads. We heard four gunshots then banging on the door.

It was the end?

There was a strong explosion and the police opened the iron curtain with a key. This lasted many minutes, an eternity with respect to the situation and the fact the terrorist could finish us all in a few seconds: it is a miracle he did not shoot us. The police entered with shields. And then, we heard perhaps fifty gunshots, a harrowing noise. We heard «He is dead!» and everybody left. I knew there were still people downstairs and they saw the carnage coming up. We got into a bus, thinking of the victims. We became aware that we had lived a miracle, because we had been saved.

Is there a message you would like to transmit after that terrifying experience?

For me, the central message is emouna, faith in God: the terrorist was armed to the nines and yet, we got through it. Only emouna made it so we could keep to a semblance of normality,  speak, move, act. I was able to pray during the whole of the hostage taking. I who live mainly in Israel, I pray so that those near me can come to Erets Israel. All happened before Sabbath and we were freed an hour into Sabbath. I wish people to light their candles early with all their fervour. To my mind, the Sabbath saved us.