About a week ago I spotted a trade paperback in the book and magazine sharing area of my building. It was Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. Praise cited on the back cover included the words “it will haunt you, it will help to complete you” and “it’s a book that impresses itself upon one’s heart and soul forever.”
It was a page turner.
The author’s note preceding the first chapter reads: “The characters in this novel are entirely fictitious. But several of the events described are not, especially those that occurred in Occupied France during summer of 1942, and in particular the great Velodrome d’Hiver roundup, which took place on July 16, 1942, in the heart of Paris.”
The story was gripping and will stay with me long after I’ve passed it on to the next reader. What I wasn’t expecting was for a place name to jump out at me: Beaune-la-Rolande.
For three or four nights I was engrossed by the book, hardly able to put it down at bedtime and unable to resist squeezing in one more chapter before work each morning. In fact I would spring out of bed early just to make time for this.
The whole time I was captivated by the story of little Sarah, that name Beaune-la-Rolande kept teasing at the edges of my memory.
I knew where to look.
Five and a half years ago I was dating a man whose father is a survivor of the Holocaust. The father and I became email pals, and he shared with me many documents about his wartime experience. He also shared what he had been able to dig up about the fate of his brother, who had not survived. The surname was German, and I hadn’t remembered anything about France, to be honest. I think the reason I didn’t remember that part is due to the way the human mind works. To remember something, it helps to put it into a context that makes sense to you. Somehow the complicity of the French government in sending thousands of Jews to their deaths had never made it into my conscious awareness. Yes, I had seen movies in which this part of history was briefly highlighted, but because it hadn’t made sense to me, it hadn’t stuck.
I used control-F to search for the word “Beaune” in the documents. Sure enough, there it was. My friend’s brother was on Convoy 15 which departed for Auschwitz on 5 August of 1942, assembly point Beaune-la-Rolande. That’s the same convoy and same date on which the family in the novel is transported out of France and to the death camps.
After re-reading the documents and emails that had gone back and forth between me and my then-boyfriend’s father, I felt compelled to do an Internet search on the brother. There is now a Shoa Memorial in Paris on which his name is etched in stone.
Even though reading books like Sarah’s Key or seeing movies about the Shoa/Holocaust is disturbing and hard, I think it is important to remember that humans are capable of such monstrous acts. We especially need to remain aware of how easy it was for so many to turn a blind eye to what was happening right in front of them. This is a part of human nature of which we have to be ever vigilant.
I also think we owe it to the survivors and to the dead not to forget what happened, nor push it from our minds.
I have read the book. Your connection via your boyfriend’s father is amazing. I wonder if he knew his brother’s name was etched on the memorial. You are right, we need to never forget even as we pray for peace and love.
Kelly, thanks for posting this. I have this book waiting be read, lent by a friend. It’s next on my list. Your story is remarkable.
I just saw the film (on TV) of “The Boy In The Striped Pajamas”. I can’t remember being as moved/shocked/emotionally grabbed as I was by the ending of that movie. It’s a must see in my book. Again, something produced that helps us REMEMBER!!! (NOT FORGET)
Another blogger on the Twenty Minute Challenge blog told about a group collecting butterflies in art to help remember the thousands of children lost in the Holocaust. Something we can all participate in first hand. It feels good to be able to do these things again to keep the memory of all those lost alive.
Thank you for bringing the memory of the Holocaust to light in your post today.
Lynn, Thank you for reminding me of that movie. I meant to see it when it was in the (indie) cinemas, but I didn’t get around to it. Now we will add it to our TO SEE list.
That is a wonderful idea: to collect butterflies. Not only is it a beautiful symbol for those little souls, but amassing hundreds of thousands of the same item in one place helps all of us visualize the enormity of this genocide, which is otherwise almost impossible to conceive. K