Les yeux bordés de reconnaissance by Myriam Anissimov (review)

Delving into a "trou noir", Anissimov dives into the "ténèbres" that haunt her family's past (13). Divided into three sections followed by an epilogue, the work reveals her obsession with the dark days of World War II and in particular with the three men who dominate the text. The first, short section starts with her entering the dark cinema to watch the film Le fils de Saul. The author quickly spirals out, however, haunted by the dark story of the hatred of Jews during the Second World War, and, most of all, the disappearance of her maternal uncle, Samuel Frocht, "éternellement jeune," due to his being "volatisé" in the summer of 1940 (16). She hopes to find a glimpse of his face and fate, but her search in the archives proves fruitless. The short second chapter of the brief first section of her autobiographical tale reveals her selling (and shame in doing so) of the clothes of exterminated Jews. Drawing parallels with the sorting of the Jews at the hands of the brutal Nazis, she sorts the silk undergarments and other quality clothes. Her prosperity ends, however, when "les 'stocks' furent épuisés" (31). The second, longest section of the work introduces two men who both experienced this period of shadow that obsesses Anissimov. The section is divided into two parts labeled by their names, first Romain Gary, and then Sergiu Celibidache. As Anissimov has previously written two works on Romain Gary, the details of their daily meetings prove intriguing. However, it is only in the last pages of the section that we learn both of her learning his intent to kill himself and the details of the annihilation of his entire family. His last words to her: "À demain, treize heures" haunt both her and the reader. Already dead on the inside, Gary joins his family, also reduced to ashes. Celibidache, a musical conductor who stays in Berlin despite the elimination of Jewish colleagues and the horrendous daily acts of those around him, is only superficially the subject of what follows. How could so many stand by and profit from the brutal end of so many Jews? Celibidache's sexual assault of the narrator provides one answer. Finally, we come full circle in the third section, returning both to the film and to the most compelling aspect of Anissimov's tale: her desperate attempts to learn the fate of her uncle. Once again, she queries the Archives de Bad Arolsen. Finally, she learns some answers. When she was 9 or 10, her father begged her to not forget the fate of her parents' families, almost all of whom were murdered. Not only does she not forget, Anissimov's moving prose shares both the outrage of the past which continues into the present with the demand for payment for informing her of the camp where Frocht was gassed.