At least two Facebook posts made by Frenchmen in the aftermath of the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris have gone viral as they captured the strength and beauty of the human spirit in the face of barbarity and utter despair—emotions that strongly resonate with people worldwide.
In one of the Facebook posts, Antoine Leiris, who lost his wife in the terrorist attacks, shared a letter on his Facebook page on Nov. 16, titled "You Will Not Have My Hatred." The letter in French was translated into English and published in USA Today.
Leiris said that although the terrorists took away the love of his life and mother of his son, he and his 17-month-old child would continue to live free and without hatred.
"Friday night, you took an exceptional life—the love of my life, the mother of my son—but you will not have my hatred. I don't know who you are and I don't want to know, you are dead souls," Leiris wrote.
Leiris' wife Helen Muyal-Leiris, 35, was among those killed in the Bataclan concert hall attack, according to The Telegraph.
"You want me to be scared, to view my countrymen with mistrust, to sacrifice my liberty for my security. You lost," Leiris wrote.
His post was written in French and has been shared more than 194,000 times to date.
Commenters responded mainly with compassion and gratitude for his letter. Marie Queysanne wrote: "Upsetting, intelligent, beautiful." Sylvia Bonhomme wrote, "What a beautiful life lesson."
In another Facebook post, a French father is seen on video talking to his young son and explaining the horrors of the Paris terror attacks while looking at the flowers and candles people brought to the sidewalk to honour the victims of the attacks. The heartfelt video captured by a Le Petit Journal reporter has been viewed almost 15 million times on Facebook.
The French news outlet posted the video on its Facebook page on Nov. 16. It was translated into English and also published in USA Today.
In the video, Angel Le tells his son Brandon the meaning of the flowers and candles, reassuring him that their family does not need to leave Paris in the wake of the attacks.
Father: "Don't worry ... We don't need to move out. France is our home," Angel tells his son.
Brandon: "But there's bad guys, dad."
Father: "Yes, but there's bad guys everywhere."
Brandon: "They have guns, they can shoot us because they are really mean, daddy."
Father: "It's ok, they might have guns but we have flowers."
Brandon: "But flowers don't do anything ... "
Father: "Of course they do. Look, everyone is putting flowers."
Brandon: "Yes?"
Father: "It's to fight against guns."
Brandon: "It's to protect ... And the candles too?"
Father: "It's to remember the people who are gone yesterday."
The video post has drawn numerous positive commentson the Le Petit Journal's Facebook page.
Angel posted his comment, thanking people for their "great comments."
"When I see all this support that tells me one thing: I'm proud to be French and proud of my fellow countrymen," he wrote.
