Algerians joined demonstrations marking the Allied victory over Nazi Germany while asserting demands for freedom and national rights. In Sétif, police gunfire and the killing of demonstrators were followed by a widening colonial crackdown across the Constantine region, involving military operations, air attacks, executions, and settler militias. Historians document mass killing but disagree on totals; estimates vary sharply and colonial records are incomplete. The event is often called the Sétif, Guelma, and Kherrata massacres.
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What began on 8 May 1945 in Sétif and spread through the region?
Research documents the demonstrations and the subsequent violence by colonial forces and settler militias.
Historians agree on one exact, undisputed death toll for the May 1945 massacres.
The number killed remains disputed; the event is documented without a single definitive toll.