MECHTI, le dernier combat

Foreign today but French at the time, former veterans of the Second World War do not enjoy the same rights as other “sons of France.” Their war pensions are so low having never been revalued—that they are forced to apply for the minimum old-age allowance. This benefit is granted by law only on the condition that they reside in France for nine months each year. Mohammed Mechti, a former Moroccan soldier who enlisted in the French army, took part in all of France’s wars since 1939 45. Forced to remain in France nine months out of twelve in order to receive the minimum old-age pension, he ends his life in Bordeaux, far from his family. Like many others, he waits for recognition that never comes. Mechti has become a man without roots, both in France and in Morocco. He has only one remaining goal: to be recognized on an equal footing with French veterans, in order to regain a right that was stolen from him and the dignity he lost forty years ago.