On May 17, 2022 the opening ceremony announcing the creation of the Garden of the Righteous in Marseille was held. This Garden is the first in France.
The "Garden of the Righteous of Marseille" was born from the collaboration between Centre Fleg and Gariwo, and testifies the common view and mission of the two entities: the "Memory of Good" as educational mean for the prevention of genocides. Gariwo's message and work within the last 20 years is collected and showed in a photographic exposition at the Center, created on the occasion of the opening ceremony.
Currently, the Garden is temporarily hosted in a green area adjacent to the Center, where the ceremony of the dedication of 3 citrus trees to the first tree Righteous honored took place: Varian Fry, Louis Dartige du Fournet and Félicité Niyitegeta. During the opening ceremony, it was officially asked to the local authorities attending the event to host the Garden of the Righteous of Marseille in a public park.
Attended the event and took the floor the following guests: Gabriele Nissim, President of Gariwo; Pietro Kuciukian, Consol of the Republic of Armenia and co-founder of Gariwo; Evelyne Sitruk, President of Centre Fleg (cultural entity based in Marseille which fight against racism and antisemitism and promotes the cultural heritage of Jewish communities and interreligious dialogue); Aurore Bruna, President of UGAB (Armenian General Benevolent Union); Marcel Kabanda, Presidente of IBUKA (Rwandan association helping the rehabilitation of survivors). Attended also the event: Pierre Huguet, city councilor responsible for the education and Ara Khatchadourian, marathon runner peace.
According to the word of the members of the Centre Edmond Fleg: "This partnership with Gariwo represents the extraordinary opportunity to amplify our commemoration activities, promoting the life of people who save lives and have the courage to fight against cruelty. This approach is strictly pedagogical. It is about passing on to future generations the importance of the active memory".
