Memento des Atrocités Allemandes – A Memory of German Atrocities – The diary of a radio reporter who accompanied the French forces and their Allies, documenting daily events during the liberation of the French Saône-et-Loire region from German occupation between August and November 1944. The atrocities committed by the Germans, as witnessed by the anonymous radio reporter (published under the name “A.”), are meticulously recorded. Charolles, France, 1944. Published anonymously. French. Extremely rare – a numbered edition of only twelve copies, distributed to the mayor of Saint-Yan in late 1944. This copy is number 4. As far as we know, this is the only surviving copy in the world. No additional copies have been preserved.
A French radio reporter, who stayed in Saône-et-Loire during its liberation by Allied forces from August 27 to September 5, 1944, documented the daily unfolding events in great detail. “A.” describes the destruction of German railway lines, the Allied army’s assaults on multiple fronts against 400 SS soldiers, the burning of the German Bauleitung offices, and the retreat of the Germans. The horrifying scenes witnessed by the liberators are vividly recounted: as the Allies approached, the Germans executed 12 hostages, innocent civilians, merely for attempting to cross the town, including a French citizen returning from the front to see his wife. The Nazis burned some village homes with their inhabitants inside, killed the residents after stripping them of their coats and papers, which they burned to erase all traces of their identities. The account describes the re-hoisting of French flags, the burial of numerous victims in the schoolyard, and the harrowing discovery of more bodies killed by the Germans shortly before their retreat. “A.” conveys his profound anguish, writing: “Words have no strength to condemn these savage acts, this horrific killing of innocent people… Those who know us overwhelm us with questions…
What did this poor old man do, the one thrown into a pit with his crutches, after being shot by a machine gun? He simply came to claim his son, who had been arrested earlier. What did this man do, crossing Saint-Yan to see his wife who had just given birth in a neighboring town? What did this old woman do, thrown into the flames of her burning farm? What did the former camp workers do? Faced with all these atrocities, we can only demand justice for these people, giving us a glimpse of what Europe might have looked like had victory not been achieved… The coffins were lowered into the very pit where the Germans had thrown their mutilated victims, the French flag flying above them…”
Extremely rare. Not listed in the WorldCat global library catalog. As far as is known, no additional copies have survived. The cover bears the inscription Reproduction interdite (“Reproduction prohibited”).
31 [1] pages. Very good condition.
