Suite Francaise (52 page)

Alas, my dear friend, I am launching one final appeal. I know that it is unforgivable to impose on you and the rest of our remaining friends this way but, I say it again, it is a question of life and death not only for my wife but also for our children, not to mention myself. The situation is serious. Alone here, with the little ones, virtually imprisoned since it is forbidden for me to move, I cannot even take solace in being able to act. I can no longer either sleep or eat, please accept that as an excuse for this incoherent letter.

10 August 1942

I, the undersigned, Count W. Kokovtzoff, former President of the Council of Ministers, Finance Minister of Russia, hereby certify that I knew the late Monsieur Efim Epstein, Administrator of the Bank of Russia, member of the Union of Banks that operated in Paris under my chairmanship, that he had the reputation of a banker of irreproachable integrity and that his actions and sympathies were clearly anti-communist.

[sworn at the Police Station]

André Sabatier to Michel Epstein                                                                                                            12 August 1942

I received your telegram and letters. I am replying before leaving Paris for the suburbs for a few weeks. If you need to write to me between 15 August and 15 September, send it to the [publishing] house where it will be dealt with immediately, they will do whatever is necessary if they can and keep me up to date. Here is what I’ve done: many initiatives without much success as yet:

(1) No reply from the Count de Chambrun to whom I have written. Since I don’t know him, I can’t chase him up, as I don’t know whether his silence is a sign that he doesn’t wish to get involved. His address is 6 bis, place du Palais-Bourbon, VII.

(2) On the other hand, Mme P. Morand is displaying tireless devotion. She is increasing her attempts, she has your letter and its essence will be sent very soon, along with a medical certificate, by one of her friends who is also at the embassy.
Les Mouches d’Automne,
which she read, does not seem to her to be at all what she was looking for: anti-revolutionary, of course, but not anti-Bolshevik. She suggests that you do not take any unsystematic and pointless initiatives, as she sees it. The only door you should be knocking on, again according to her, is the Jewish Union who alone, through its network, could tell you where your wife is and perhaps get news to her about the children. Here is her address: 29 rue de la Bienfaisance, VIII.

(3) My friend told me straight out that his attempts led him to conclude there was nothing he could do.

(4) Same reply, just as categorical, from my father, after approaching the French regional authorities.

(5) I asked a friend to contact the author of
Dieu est-il français?
(Friedrich Sieburg) who promised to see [what could be done], not to have her released, which seemed doubtful to him, but at least to have some news of her.

(6) Yesterday, I telephoned the Red Cross where I spoke to Mme Rousseau’s stand-in, who was very kind and knew all about the matter. Dr. Bazy is currently in the Free Zone and is making enquiries in high places regarding what might be possible. He is due back on Thursday, so I’ll phone him before I leave.

My personal feelings are as follows:

(1) The directive which affected your wife is part of a general order (here, in Paris alone, it seems to have affected several thousand stateless people), which partly explains why we seem to be incapable of obtaining an order for special treatment, but which also means we can hope that nothing special might happen to your wife.

(2) This directive was ordered by certain German authorities who have total control in this area and in the face of whom the French authorities and other German civil or military authorities, even those in high places, seem to have no influence.

(3) Leaving for Germany seems probable, not to go to the camps according to Mme P. Morand, but to go to Polish cities where stateless people are all being held.

All this is very hard, I feel it only too well, dear Monsieur. You must try only to think of the children and remain strong for them, easy advice to give . . . I’m sure you’ll say. Alas! I have done everything I can. Your very faithful André.

Michel Epstein to Mme Cabour                                                                                                            14 August 1942

Sadly Irène has gone—where? I do not know. You can imagine how worried I am! She was taken away on 13 July and I have had no word of her since. I am alone here with the two little girls who are being looked after by Julie. Perhaps you remember having met her at avenue Président-Wilson. If I ever receive any news of Irène, I will let you know immediately. You wish to help us, dear Madame. I will take advantage of this offer without even knowing if what I ask is in the realm of possibility. Could you get us some thread and cotton wool as well as some typewriter paper? We would be extremely grateful to you.

Irène Némirovsky died at Auschwitz on 17 August 1942, a fact which makes the correspondence that follows this date even more poignant. (Translator)

Michel Epstein to Mme Cabour                                                                                                            20 August 1942

Irène was taken away on 13 July by the French police, acting on orders from the German police, and taken to Pithiviers—because she was a stateless person of Jewish descent, without taking into account the fact that she is Catholic, her children are French and that she took refuge in France to escape the Bolsheviks, who also stole her parents’ entire fortune. She arrived at Pithiviers on 15 July and, according to the only letter I received from her, she was due to leave again on the 17th for an unknown destination. Since then, nothing. Not a word, I don’t know where she is or even if she is alive. Since I do not have the right to leave this place, I have asked various people to intervene, without success as yet. If there is anything at all you can do, I beg you to do it, for this suffering is unbearable. Imagine that I can’t even send her any food, that she has no clothes or money . . . Up until now, I’ve been left here for I am over forty-five . . .

Michel Epstein to André Sabatier                                                                                                            15 September 1942

Still no sign of life from Irène. As Mme Paul
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advised, I have taken no new initiatives. I am counting on her alone. I don’t think I can bear this uncertainty for long. You said you were waiting for some news from Dr. Bazy. I assume you haven’t had any? I hope the Red Cross can at least make sure that Irène gets some clothing, money and food before winter sets in.

If you see Mme Paul, would you please be so kind as to tell her I have received a card from His Grace Ghika
*
²⁹
who, six months ago, was still in good health in Bucharest.

André Sabatier to Michel Epstein                                                                                                            17 September 1942

I telephoned Mme Paul as soon as I got back. I expressed your gratitude to her and told her you had taken her advice. All the steps she has taken, even those with the person to whom you have written a letter, still have not yielded any results. She told me: “It’s like banging your head against a wall.” Mme Paul thinks that the wise thing to do is to wait until these great movements of populations are somehow contained and stabilised.

Michel Epstein to André Sabatier                                                                                                            19 September 1942

Our letters have crossed. I thank you for giving me some news, no matter how depressing it may be. Could you please find out if it would be possible for me to be exchanged for my wife—I would perhaps be more useful in her place and she would be better off here. If this is impossible, maybe I could be taken to her—we would be better off together. Obviously, it would be necessary to speak to you about all this in person.

André Sabatier to Michel Epstein                                                                                                            23 September 1942

Ever since the 14 July I told myself that if a trip to Issy were necessary, I wouldn’t hesitate to go. I do not think that, even now, this could lead to any definite viable decision. Here is why.

To exchange places is currently impossible. It would only mean one more inmate, even though the reason you give for it is obviously well-founded. Once we know exactly where Irène is, that is to say once all this is “organised,” then and then alone, it might be possible to make this proposal.

Together, in the same camp! Another impossibility, as separation between men and women is strict and absolute.

The Red Cross has just sent me a telegram this morning asking for a detail that I do not know and that I am in turn asking you for in a telegram. I will send it immediately. Let us hope we are on the way to having some news.

Michel Epstein to André Sabatier                                                                                                            29 September 1942

I promised I would be asking for your help and I am keeping my promise. This is what I need. My Alien Identity Card, valid until next November, has to be renewed. This depends on the
Préfet
of the Saône-et-Loire, Mâcon, and I must send him a renewal request soon. I do not wish this request to cause us any new problems. I am therefore asking if you could approach the
Préfet
of Mâcon. Everything is perfectly in order, but the scarcely propitious circumstances for people in my category lead me to fear problems from the Ministry of Justice etc. May I count on you? I will do nothing until I hear from you but the matter is pressing.

André Sabatier to Michel Epstein                                                                                                            5 October 1942

I have just received your letter of the 29th. I read it and had someone else read it. There is no doubt, my response is clear: stay where you are, doing anything at all seems to me extremely foolhardy. I am expecting Dimnet to come and see me and will be happy to discuss it with him.

André Sabatier to Michel Epstein                                                                                                            12 October 1942

This morning, I received your letter of the 8th as well as a copy of the letter you sent to Dijon. I am writing to tell you the following:

Our friend also had everything perfectly in order but you must realise that didn’t prevent anything from happening.

As for the children, they are French and, to use your own expression, I do not get the impression that a change of scene is essential, but that is only my opinion. It seems to me that the Red Cross would be best placed to give you more detailed and concrete information.

Michel Epstein to André Sabatier (Creusot Prison)                                                                                                            19 October 1942

[letter written in pencil]

I am still at Creusot, being treated very well and in perfect health. I do not know when we will continue our journey or where we are going. I am counting on your friendship towards my family. They will need it. I am certain you will look after them. Apart from that, there is nothing I can tell you except that I am keeping faith and I bid you farewell.

Michel was first imprisoned at Creusot, then taken to Drancy. On 6 November 1942 he was deported to Auschwitz and sent immediately to the gas chamber. There is then a two-year gap in the correspondence. (Translator)

Julie Dumot to Robert Esménard                                                                                                            1 October 1944

I am writing to ask you to continue sending the monthly payments. You know that I have had many worries. For seven months I have had to keep hiding them in different places. I hope this nightmare is now over. I have gone to get the children to put them into boarding school. My eldest girl is in the third year of secondary school,
*
³⁰
they are happy finally to be free for Denise will be able to do her schoolwork more calmly as her future is also at stake.

Julie Dumot to André Sabatier                                                                                                            10 October 1944

I have received the 15,000 francs. I have been worried about my children since last February. I had to hide them again. That is certainly the reason why Sister Saint-Gabriel did not reply to you. They couldn’t go to school for seven months. I hope we will be more settled now and that they will work hard. I have put them back in boarding school. Denise is in the third year of secondary school and Babet in the fourth year of primary school.
*
³¹
They are very happy to see their friends again and the good Sisters who helped me so much in our time of need. I hope that now nothing else will happen to torture us while we wait for the return of our family in exile. Is it possible to sell any author’s work now or are sales still being regulated?

Robert Esménard to Julie Dumot                                                                                                            30 October 1944

Thank you for your letter of 1 October. I can see that you have had to suffer through many cruel days of anguish. Now you can finally put your mind at rest regarding the girls’ future who will be able to pursue their studies in peace; we can only hope that this terrifying nightmare will soon come to an end and that in the very near future you will receive some word of their parents. This is, as you know, one of my dearest wishes . . .

André Sabatier to Julie Dumot                                                                                                            9 November 1944