France is commemorating the 10th anniversary of a terror attack at a kosher supermarket in Paris, where four Jewish individuals and their Islamist attacker were killed. The swift actions of a Muslim employee from Mali, who assisted police in ending the siege, ensured the survival of most hostages. Lassana Bathily, who played a crucial role in the event, recently shared his experience with RFI.

Bathily, then 24, was working as a shelf-stacker when gunman Amedy Coulibaly entered the Hypercacher store at Porte de Vincennes on January 9, 2015, just two days after the Charlie Hebdo attack. His courageous actions in saving Jews from a jihadist transformed him into a powerful symbol of unity in a deeply shaken France.

"I’m simply a good, ordinary citizen who acted at the right moment," Bathily told RFI, modestly dismissing the label of hero. Despite his bravery, he admits that a decade later, he remains deeply affected by what stands as the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in modern French history.

Huddled in a cold store

Bathily was winding up his shift in the late afternoon, unpacking frozen items in the basement, when he heard shots fired upstairs.

Coulibaly, who claimed to be working in the name of Islamic State, had shot dead three shoppers and taken 17 others hostage.

He ushered them into the cold store, holding the door. After a few minutes he suggested they try and escape by using the goods lift to reach the emergency exit.