Oran massacre of 1962

The Oran massacre of 1962 was a massacre of Pied-Noir and European settlers by Front de libération nationale (FLN) troops and Algerian civilians in Oran, Algeria. Between 95 and 365 people were killed in the massacre from 5–7 July, 1962.

It began on the date of Algerian independence amid a riot that began after some Europeans fired at FLN troops as they entered the city, ending 2 days later with the deployment of the French Gendarmerie. Neither French forces nor the Algerian police intervened to stop the massacre. The massacre was preceded by a campaign of bombings by the Organisation armée secrète (OAS), a French militant group opposed to Algerian independence, which killed hundreds of Algerians living in Oran between May and June 1962 and destroyed critical infrastructure across the region.

Background

The Algerian War had been underway since 1954. The Évian Accords of 18 March 1962 brought an end to the conflict. The Accords, which were reached during a cease-fire between French armed forces and the Algerian nationalist organisation the Front de libération nationale (FLN), began the process of transfer of power from the French to the Algerians. The Évian Accords intended to guarantee the rights and safety of the pieds-noirs, French and Spanish colonial residents, many born in Algeria, and indigenous Sephardi Jews in an independent Algeria. However, the flight of French pieds-noirs and pro-French native Algerians began in April 1962, and by late May hundreds of thousands had emigrated from Algeria, chiefly to metropolitan France.