14521.8square kilometers of Germany were allocated to France by the Versailler Diktat
116800Reichsmarks would have been the cost of a mentally ill patient if he had been looked after for forty years
157034,the number tattooed on a survivor’s arm and jotted down on a page from a blue notebook
CHAPTER X
The Binder
(NOTES 2006–2010)
From a blue notebook, torn pages: notes from another visit to N., notes on Kürz and M. from the information given and the archives lent by Pierre Meyer, with various documents attached… all rearranged in chronological order and divided into eighteen pouches in a red binder.
POUCH 1
NOTES ON PIERRE MEYER
Met for the first time in September 2006. Born January 13, 1915. M.’s son-in-law and Silberberg’s friend. A great eyewitness. Several interviews recorded in November and December 2006.
Summary: born and raised in Strasbourg, studied mathematics, worked at the library before the war. Friend of Silberberg, involved in anti-Nazi resistance groups. Mobilized (in an anti-aircraft defense unit, near Nevers). After the Armistice with Germany, demobilized, decides not to return to Strasbourg: Alsace, annexed by the Reich, is too dangerous for him, with his name listed and put on file for his political actions (his father was Jewish, even though he was killed in the German uniform in 1915). In Paris, false papers, works in the offices of the French national railway (SNCF) under a false identity. Transportation of leaflets and more, for a Resistance network, on bicycle or on foot. Takes part in the fighting for the liberation of Paris. Wounded in the arm, he cannot rejoin the army. Stays in Paris and goes back to studying mathematics, after five years’ interruption. Classes with Pariset and M. at the Sorbonne. Through Pariset, meets Mireille Duvivier. By chance, also meets Bernadette, a medical student and his future wife. Coincidentally, she is M.’s daughter.
Coincidences… the publication of M.’s letters in the planning stage in 2005, return to N. in 2006. While seeking out the beneficiaries, met Pierre Meyer. He saved Bernadette M.’s papers, among which was the diary kept by her mother, Marguerite Janvier, during World War I, along with letters, announcements. And Mireille Duvivier’s papers. Thanks to Marguerite’s diary from the hospital, connection with Gorenstein. From Pierre, information on Silberberg and the story of Mireille Duvivier (another connection with Gorenstein) and her one hundred twenty-one days of happiness.
POUCH 2
HANDWRITTEN LETTER FROM IGNACE M. TO HIS SISTER BERNADETTE (10-15-44)
(copy, original with Pierre Meyer)
Paris, October 15, 1944
My dearest big sister,
Since you left for Normandy two weeks ago, things have gotten worse here. I know you’re looking for peace and solitude in the country, but I’m writing to ask you to please return to Chatou because Mama is not at all well. She is very depressed, does not talk to anyone, and spends all day in a chair or in bed, staring into space, doing nothing. I don’t know what has caused this listlessness. Maybe it’s simply the repercussions of the strange and terrible years we’ve just lived through.
You and I have already spoken about this, and I still don’t know what she really thought about Papa’s public stances and his German friends. Now with the Liberation, and Papa’s suspension, maybe this, too, is eating away at her. Our grandparents’ arrival has not helped things. Grand-Papa is very authoritative and, since the time he and Grand-Mama arrived, it feels like he’s the one in charge of the house. For several days, because of the state Mama is in, Marthe has been taking care of everything, but under Grand-Papa’s orders.
I beg you, my dear Bernadette, please don’t show this letter to anyone. I’m sure Papa will take care of things in order to impress the purge committee and nothing will happen to him. I’m also sure Mama knows this, she’s used to it, so on the one hand she has no reason to worry and on the other, it’s actually more depressing. I must add that our grandparents didn’t need to come all the way here. Grand-Papa screams that Papa is an imbecile, and the atmosphere reminds me of the worst points of Papa’s anger when we were little. We’re nearly expecting to witness a belt beating, like the time when you secretly brought me chocolate, do you remember? When I see them together, I’m almost sure Papa was beaten with a belt when he was a child, too.
Even though the tense atmosphere I’ve described here is worse than it was before you left, you have to come back. Mama needs someone who will talk to her like you do, Thérèse has far too much to do taking care of the baby, and the three others can only fall down on their knees and pray. My dear Bernadette, I beg you, come back.
Your little brother who loves you,
Ignace
P.S. What’s more, I’m going to need a little support as well: I’m being reprimanded for going to Tiedemann’s house in Germany to join the Compulsory Work Service, and I have to explain myself in front of a committee at school. See why you can’t stay far away?
Note: Research trip (under the cover of forced labor) for the son, perhaps negotiated over the dinner of July 1943? How could one possibly know?
POUCH 3
WRITTEN NOTES ON M.
M.’s statements at the purge committee (summarized by Pierre Meyer): the sole aim of his relations with the Germans was to ease the plight of our prisoners of war; the talks in Germany had been ordered by the minister.
Look in the archives of the purge committee (at the National Archives).
Announcement: It pleased God to call to Himself Marguerite Janvier, wife of M., deceased on the 28th of February, 1945, after a long and painful illness.
M.’s wearing of mourning clothes was ostentatious (per Pierre Meyer).
M.’s second daughter, Marthe, took care of him (she stopped her studies) from when Marguerite died until her own death in 1990.
Pierre and Bernadette were married in December 1945, a civil ceremony (Ignace M. was Bernadette’s witness, Mireille Duvivier was Pierre’s witness, no announcement?). After completing their studies, she became a pediatrician and he a professor of mathematics. Two daughters, Andrée and Nathalie, born in 1948 and 1950.
Does M. have any other surviving archives? Pierre Meyer doesn’t know.
POUCH 4
HANDWRITTEN NOTES TAKEN AFTER THE INTERVIEWS WITH PIERRE MEYER
(Pages torn from the blue notebook)
On Doctor Sonntag. See the booklet dedicated to him by the University of Strasbourg. Evacuated to Clermont in 1939, arrested as a member of the Resistance, sent to Drancy as a Jew, Convoy 57 for Auschwitz. At Monowitz, directs the Revier (sick bay? the word “hospital” hardly seems accurate). He gets Silberberg assigned there (one of his patients from before the war). Meets Meyerbeer (the psychiatrist), who is also deported and treated (?) at the Revier. Buchenwald after the death march (evacuation of Auschwitz). Resumed his life in Strasbourg, testified at Nuremberg, wrote a text, in 1947, on Monowitz marked with an incredible sense of responsibility.
On Silberberg. See the booklet on Sonntag and Louis Klein’s book. Mobilized (in aviation) in 1939. After the armistice and demobilization, appointed senior teacher at a high school in Digne, then dismissed (Statute on Jews of October 3, 1940). Then (December 1940? January 1941?) in Clermont-Ferrand (research in number theory, private tutoring to earn a living). Rounded up by the Nazis in June 1943. Drancy, Convoy 60 for Auschwitz. Secretary of the Revier at Monowitz. Died at Mariahilf in April 1945.
POUCH 5
NOTES TAKEN AT THE LIBRARY OF THE CHEMISTRY LABORATORY IN P. (12-18-08)
(François Ollier Archive Collection)
Huge archives, lots of information on the France-Germany Committee, then the collaboration (great for those who want to write a biography of Ollier!):
•Family letters, newspaper clippings. Military passbook. Notebooks. His wife’s scrapbooks (recipes, invitations).
•Carbon copy of a letter, addressee unknown, recounting the reception at Göring’s (Olympic Games of 1936), “a whole new world is
emerging,” five typed pages.
•Newsletter from the France-Germany Committee, 1937.
•Letter to the weekly magazine Les Temps Nouveaux, 1941.
•Letter to the chemists of IG Farben, 4-6-43.
•Incarcerated until 12-23-44 at Les Tourelles camp. Freed (under surveillance).
•Notes for the lawyer: “Relations with German authorities in order to defend the freedom and maintenance of the scientific press. I have never had any contact with students, and I cannot be reprimanded for having exerted any kind of harmful influence on young people.”
•Notes “for an appeal from my colleagues to the judge”: “I was added to the Groupe Collaboration by surprise, resigning from it would have been viewed as tactless.”
•Petition to the Minister of the Interior.
•Case closed, March 1948.
POUCH 6
LETTER FROM HENRI PARISET TO MIREILLE DUVIVIER (3-19-48) AND LETTER FROM SAMUEL REISKY TO PARISET (3-10-48)
(Copies, the originals belong to Pierre Meyer)
Paris, March 19, 1948
Dear Mademoiselle,
I hope that you are in good health and that your work at the National Library continues to be enjoyable. I’m forwarding you a letter I have just received from the United States which I’m sure will interest you.
Warmest regards,
Henri Pariset
P.S. You can keep the letter.
New York, Wednesday, March 10, 1948
Dear Professor,
I knew André Silberberg at the Monowitz camp. He was very nice. He gave the prisoners German lessons. He explained number theory, he drew a square in the dirt and said “here’s the root of 2.” I forget now, but he explained “perfect” numbers. Once, he gave a talk on quantum theory. He spoke about you, his professor. He helped us a lot. Excuse my French, it’s not very good, I can’t write very much. I was born in a village in Poland, but I lived in Paris (Rue de Ménilmontant). Now I live in the United States and I’m learning English. Someone told me he’s dead. I’m very sorry to hear that.
Kind regards,
Samuel Reisky
How do you talk about Auschwitz?
POUCH 7
ANNOUNCEMENT FROM LE MONDE
(Newspaper clipping)
Nicole Duvivier, née Gorenstein,
and her daughter Mireille
are saddened to announce the death,
at the age of 56, of
ROBERT GORENSTEIN
mathematician
x 1911
on the 12TH of October, 1949.
The funeral will take place at the crematorium of
Père-Lachaise Cemetery
on the 17TH of October at half past ten in the morning.
No flowers or wreaths please.
The “x” marks his graduation date from the École Polytechnique. Pierre Meyer’s memories: very intimate service, Nicole, Mireille, Pariset with two colleagues, Pierre.
POUCH 8
TRIP TO OXFORD, MARCH 2009
(Harold Smith Archive Collection)
Wonderful collection of mathematical manuscripts. But also lots of letters to his wife. Both died rather young.
Letter from Harold Smith to Barbara Smith (6-8-50) (re-transcribed from the original English).
(To understand this letter, it’s important to know that Charlotte Kürz married Wilhelm Hermann (mathematician, student of Kürz) in 1949.)
June 8, 1950
My dear Barbara,
After yesterday’s long and serious letter, I’ll try to be more trivial today. This time it won’t be the description of a library, statues, or monuments, but a pastry shop. This one is called Korb & Schlag (which means “basket and cream”). I had my breakfast there this morning, on Hermann’s recommendation. Truly extraordinary. I will try to bring you a few Schokoladekugeln.
I have to go and give my first talk, I’ll continue this letter tonight or tomorrow morning.
It’s late, but I’m picking up my pen again to tell you about the evening I’ve just had at the Hermanns’. I was truly quite honoured by their invitation, even more so because they had also invited several of their friends and colleagues, the biologist Tiedemann and the historian von Apfeldorf—you know, the specialist in the German Middle Ages—with their wives, as well as Hermann’s wife’s parents, namely Heinrich Kürz himself—whose work I’ve told you about, but whom I had never met in person before—and his wife, Frau Kürz, whose first name I didn’t hear.
The Hermanns live in a pretty house on Schillerstrasse. It’s not very far from the centre of town, in an utterly charming residential neighbourhood. To start, we had pre-dinner drinks in the garden, under a linden tree, between the rhododendrons and rosebushes in full bloom. The dinner was German, but delicious: a Gruyère salad, a pork roast with cranberry sauce and sautéed potatoes, and an apple tart (brought by the Tiedemanns, if I understood correctly). The wine was French, and I have to tell you, everything was perfect. Then, coffee, kirsch, pipes, and music.
Probably owing to the presence of the distinguished historian, the conversation was mainly about the origins of German folklore and fairy tales, in particular the story of Faust—I should really say stories, because there are a lot of them. It was a bit highbrow, but fascinating. I’ll tell you everything I learnt as soon as I get back. We also talked about dogs, I think it was because of a tradition from northern Germany in which the devil is accompanied by a dog.
All this naturally took place in German, and I think I managed quite honourably.
Kürz played a Beethoven sonata for us, Sonata quasi una fantasia, he announced, it’s the one we call Moonlight. I’m sure you’ve already heard me say he’s a very good mathematician, so I was very impressed that he was also such a good pianist.
Von Apfeldorf and his wife drove me back to the hotel. I’m stopping now, because it’s quite late and I have to give a second lecture tomorrow. By the way, I haven’t even said anything about the one I gave today: it went rather well, even if I may have gone a little too fast. I wrote my summary in a huge register that was started in… 1888! I was awestruck to be writing after so many well-known names. This time I’m really stopping.
With all my love, your
Harold
Note: so many linden trees! What differences were there between a summer evening at Tiedemann’s in 1943 and a summer evening at Hermann’s in 1950?
POUCH 9
RETURN TO N., JUNE 2006
(Heinrich Kürz Collection)
Letter from the medieval historian Ernst von Apfeldorf to Heinrich Kürz (6-9-50) (re-transcribed and translated from the German).
June 9, 1950
Dear Heinrich,
We had such a pleasant time at your son-in-law’s yesterday evening! Despite her youth, Mrs. Hermann is a true lady of the house and a perfect hostess. And what finesse! The dinner was exquisite and Mrs. Tiedemann’s tart was also a success, as always; Frau Schlag must ask for her recipe! Even the English guest was charming, once we got used to his accent. But the highlight of the evening was assuredly your exceptional interpretation of Beethoven’s sonata. And how right you are in saying that it expresses the true German spirit!
Please send my kindest regards to Mrs. Kürz.
Best wishes,
Apfeldorf
Von Apfeldorf describes the same evening as Smith in his letter (cf. pouch 8).
POUCH 10
ANNOUNCEMENT FROM LE FIGARO
(Newspaper clipping)
The Mortfaus, Langlois,
Dubois, Meyer, and Besson families
regret to announce the passing of
CHRISTIAN MORTFAUS
x 1911
Croix de Guerre with one mention
Grand Croix de la Légion d’Honneur
Deceased the 11th of November, 1996, in Paris, 7th arr.,
in his one hundred and fourth year.
Succeeded by his children, grandchildren,
and great-grandchildren.
The religious service will take place
on the 18th of November at ten o’clock
at the Cathedral of Saint-Louis des Invalides.
The burial will be at two o’clock
in the vault of the Janvier and Mortfaus families
at Père-Lachaise Cemetery.
Pierre Meyer’s memories: Bernadette was sick, Pierre didn’t go. Even so, he had saved the newspaper clipping. A sign of careful editing: the 7th arrondissement is home to the Hôtel des Invalides (a miserable room, according to Pierre, but he never saw it). Died coming home from the Armistice Day ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe (where he had been taken in his wheelchair).
POUCH 11
RETURN TO N., JUNE 2006
(Postcards, photographs, and various papers)
POSTCARDS.
1.The tomb of the mathematician Spankerfel, covered with ivy.
2.The picturesque accumulation of hundreds of bikes in all colors in front of the train station.
3.A pond with ducks swimming on it.
4.Advertising card from the Korb & Schlag pastry shop featuring a photograph of a meringue tart, part of which is cut in such a way to show that under the meringue are apples.
RECEIPT.
Korb & Schlag
seit 1858 in N.
Goethestrasse 23
Wir danken für Ihren Besuch
26.06.06 – 9:56
FOUR PHOTOGRAPHS (PRINTED ON NORMAL PAPER).
1.The sign for the Biergarten Paradies, with black and red letters on a yellow background (meeting with Bernhardt Hermann).
2.The gray cement wall with a little green that ran onto a bronze plaque, its text quite readable in copper letters on the dark background: “Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings / Heinrich Heine 1821 / Bücherverbrennung May 10, 1933” (1821 for the quotation, 1933 for the book burnings, and no date for the plaque itself).
One Hundred Twenty-One Days Page 10