Antoine Leiris, Widower Of Paris Attack Victim, Pens Defiant Open Letter To ISIS: ‘I Will Not Grant You The Gift Of My Hatred’

Antoine Leiris lost his wife in the deadly Paris attacks just over a week ago. Now, in a touching open letter to the terrorists — that has since gone viral — the Frenchman tells ISIS that he will not grant the terrorist organization “the gift of my hatred.”

As MSN reports, Antoine’s wife, 35-year-old Helene Muyal-Leiris, a hair and makeup artist, was one of the 130 people killed in the Friday, November 13, attacks in Paris. Mrs. Leiris was at the Bataclan Concert Hall, the scene of the deadliest of the six coordinated attacks throughout Paris that night (89 victims died in the Bataclan attack).

Le Bataclan Manager: Theater “Will Reopen, No Question” https://t.co/tvn2OuSE0Z pic.twitter.com/HxZXpPmP5I

— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) November 19, 2015

Mrs. Leiris left behind her widower, Antoine, and a 17-month-old son, Melvil.

Just days after the Paris attacks. Antoine wrote a Facebook post that has since gone viral. In the post, Antoine remains defiant toward the perpetrators of the attacks that killed his wife, promising not to give them the hatred that they so desperately want. Here is the letter, translated from the original French.

“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. If this God, for whom you kill blindly, made us in his image, every bullet in the body of my wife would have been one more wound in his heart.

“So, no, I will not grant you the gift of my hatred. You’re asking for it, but responding to hatred with anger is falling victim to the same ignorance that has made you what you are. You want me to be scared, to view my countrymen with mistrust, to sacrifice my liberty for my security. You lost.

“I saw her this morning. Finally, after nights and days of waiting. She was just as beautiful as when she left on Friday night, just as beautiful as when I fell hopelessly in love over 12 years ago. Of course I am devastated by this pain, I give you this little victory, but the pain will be short-lived. I know that she will be with us every day and that we will find ourselves again in this paradise of free love to which you have no access.

“We are just two, my son and me, but we are stronger than all the armies in the world. I don’t have any more time to devote to you, I have to join Melvil who is waking up from his nap. He is barely 17-months-old. He will eat his meals as usual, and then we are going to play as usual, and for his whole life this little boy will insult you with his happiness and freedom. Because no, you will not have his hatred either.”

In a heartwarming video, Mr. Leiris himself read his letter for BBC News. Touching music plays in the background, as Antoine’s words are interspersed on the screen with scenes of the Paris attacks and their aftermath.

Speaking to CNN, Mr. Leiris, a radio journalist, described the series of events that unfolded and ultimately claimed the life of his wife. On that Friday night, Leiris stayed home while his wife went to the Bataclan Theater with their friend, Nicolas, to see the Eagles of Death Metal in concert. Later that evening, he got a text from his sister-in-law, simply asking, “How are you?”

Thinking something was amiss, Antoine turned on the TV. The horror of what was happening in Paris unfolded before him, but in his mind, he says, he kept believing that anything was possible and that his wife may have survived.

On Friday night, Mr. Leiris and his brother went to “every hospital in Paris and the suburbs,” looking for any sign of Helene. On Saturday night, after 24 agonizing hours, Antoine got a call from a medical examiner, saying they had his wife’s body. He went to the morgue but found it locked; he tried to force open the door. He wasn’t able to see his body until the Monday morning after the attacks.

Though he’s only 17-months-old, Anotoine says his and Helene’s son, Melvil, is aware that his mother died. Mr. Leiris describes looking through photos of Helene on his phone, with Melvil.

“He showed me, ‘This is my mother — Maman,’ and then we cried together.”

Helene’s companion, Nicolas Strohl, also survived the shooting at the Bataclan that night. He, like Helene, was struck, but Strohl survived the shooting by playing dead. Helene and Nicolas had been friends since the two were children; when they were in their teens, Nicolas introduced Helene to Antoine. Helene died in Nicolas’ arms that night at the Bataclan.

Despite the enormity of the tragedy, Antoine Leiris has refused to give himself over to hate. He wrote his letter, he says, because he doesn’t want to give in to the terrorists and respond with hatred and anger. Instead, he says, he chooses to be happy.

And it seems that Mr. Leiris’ letter has touched a nerve: people from around the world have contacted Antoine, touched by his message of hope, and asking what they can do to help. A friend of the family is attempting to raise funds for the widower on crowdfunding site GoFundMe, according to Sport Act.

As of this post, Antoine Leiris’ letter has been shared over 223,000 times.

[Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images]