Murder in the Métro: Laetitia Toureaux and the Cagoule in 1930s France (review)

This book investigates the unsolved murder, in 1937, of Laetitia Toureaux, an Italian immigrant whose grizzly end — she was found fatally stabbed in a first-class métro carriage — was bound up with the activities of the fascist terrorists of the Cagoule. The authors aim both to shed light on this cold case and, by exploring the identity and operation of the Cagoule, to show how Toureaux’s fate ‘epitomized the political, social, and cultural struggles taking place in 1930s France’ (p. 20). Attention is also devoted to issues of gender and immigration in interwar France, and to their representation in the popular press. The authors have previously published an article on the portrayal of the Toureaux case in the French press, and this research also informs their new study. This book really is a very good narrative: were it to be televised it would resemble a combination of The World at War and New Tricks. Its structure is cleverly conceived: the intercalation of the historical material with the tale of Toureaux’s murder heightens the suspense and allows for a denouement worthy of a Poirot mystery. And, like Agatha Christie, the authors manage to tie up all the loose ends while leaving the reader curious to know more. The book’s website (<www.murderinthemetro.com>) suggests that this is deliberate, as a sequel is in preparation that promises to uncover the events surrounding the murder of the Cagoule leader Eugène Deloncle by the Gestapo in 1943. Another important area of future inquiry, though not suggested by the authors, would be the operation of Italian secret agents in France during the 1930s; though very relevant to the Toureaux case, this is treated in lesser detail in the book since prominence is given to the Cagoule. The exposition of the existing evidence, the analysis of previous interpretations, and the connections made between the activities of the Cagoule, its legal front (the Union des Comités d’Action Défensive), the French police, and the Italian Secret Service are based on copious archival research. The authors reflect on the trajectories of the culprits after 1940, exploring the links between Cagoule members and Vichy, the Nazi occupiers, and even the Resistance. Their main argument is that the political significance of the Cagoule has been conspicuously underestimated by both scholarly and popular commentators, partly because of the difficulty in consulting the archives, which were sealed for 101 years (until 2038), with access subject to a dérogation. The authors believe that the Toureaux file has been deliberately suppressed, possibly even decimated, not least because the story of the Cagoule implicates members of the L’Oréal dynasty, the father of leading French journalist Pierre Jeantet, and François Mitterrand. Previous researchers have therefore been either unwilling or unable to tell the full story. The attempt to research Toureaux and the Cagoule reveals the ongoing sensitivities around the memory of the Second World War, particularly as regards the roots of Vichy and collaboration in French fascist organizations between the wars.