All may have been forgiven, but for one grief-stricken Charlie Hebdo cartoonist forgetting has proven impossible.
The satirical magazine’s lead cartoonist Renald (Luz) Luzier says he’s resigning after finding himself unable to cope with his “grief, pain and anger” after the deadly Jan. 7 terrorist attack inside his Paris office.
Luzier, speaking to French newspaper Liberation, said the memory of that horrific day that left 12 people dead — most of which were his colleagues — has proven “too much to bear.”
“Each issue is torture because the others are gone. Spending sleepless nights summoning the dead, wondering what Charb, Cabu, Honore, Tignous would have done is exhausting,” he said while referring to four of his slain colleagues.
Luzier, who announced his last day will be in September, was likely saved from death after oversleeping on the morning two Islamic extremists stormed the weekly magazine’s office. Those two brothers, Said and Cherif Kouachi, were later killed following a massive two-day manhunt.
The surviving lead cartoonist went on to design the magazine’s following “survivors’ edition” cover which showcased a drawing of a teary-eyed Muslim Prophet Muhammed holding a sign that read: “All is forgiven.”
“I honestly didn’t know if I could still draw,” Luzier said at a January press conference that discussed that emotional issue.
Shortly after the attack the unifying slogan of “Je Suis Charlie” spread across the globe in support of the controversial paper and for free speech.
Remarking on Charlie Hebdo’s overnight popularity, Luzier said: “We’re not heroes, we never were, we never wanted to be.”
