‘When the bomb blew up, we were here, we had not left, we saw the smoke pass above us, it was going this way, so we were here and after they spent two days here, it's only after that that they left, they left and came back and helicoptered back their how to say, their engines blowing smoke or whatever they were doing, it was like, like I don't know, like some kind of product, or something else, there we go, and when they were done they left again.’
(Inwoner uit Mertoutek, Algerije, die fotograaf Bruno Hadjih rondleidt op een kerkhof en er vertelt over de graven)
Zaterdag 13 februari, 1960. In het kader van een geheim militair kernonderzoek, brengt het Franse leger een eerste atoombom tot ontploffing in het district Reggane in de Algerijnse Sahara, zo’n duizend kilometer ten zuiden van de hoofdstad Algiers. Vijf jaar eerder nog br…
