LA VERITE SUR BUCHENWALD Published by Ce Soir, Paris 1946. Testimonies of prisoners from the Buchenwald death camp few months after their liberation – Rare publication. Copy with the rare correction page.
Publication released at the end of the war aimed at defending the reputation of Buchenwald prisoner, the french Communist politician Marcel Paul [1900-1982]. Testimonies from former prisoners and those in various roles describe Marcel Paul as a moral figure who saved many prisoners from death (including the renowned French aircraft industrialist Marcel Dassault) and never incriminated anyone. On the title page is written: “The French conscience opposes a notorious campaign” and top right: “Survivors testify”.
Beyond the focus on Paul himself, the booklet provides rare documentation from the surviving Buchenwald prisoners themselves. The recently liberated prisoners describe in detail for the first time the death industry of Buchenwald camp, the daily routine, forced labor, executions, death marches, abuses, activity in the subcamps, hangings of prisoners suspected of sabotage or escape attempts – a horrific execution carried out routinely at the camp, and more. The testimonies are accompanied by harsh photographs of Buchenwald prisoners and bodies of the dead. Among the photos is one of an emaciated teenage survivor, with the description: “Being so severely emaciated that he no longer looks human is not an isolated case. In Buchenwald there were thousands like him. The picture was taken in Block 61”. Another photo of a prisoner beaten in the face just hours before the camp’s liberation is described: “The battered face of a prisoner just beaten”. There is also a photo of bodies murdered on the night before the camp’s liberation, and more.
This copy includes the rare correction page with a corrected list of the names quoted in the booklet.
Marcel Paul was a French trade unionist and Communist politician. In 1927 Paul joined the PCF – the French Communist Party. During World War II he was captured by the Nazis but managed to escape, returning to Paris in 1940 and heading the rebel SPFciale organization, in which an unsuccessful attempt was made to assassinate Hermann Goering. In November 1941 he was arrested and tortured at the Saint-Denis police station. He was later transferred to Auschwitz and Buchenwald camps. His role at Buchenwald remains controversial until today, with claims he was a privileged prisoner who collaborated with camp commanders, leading to the deaths of some prisoners.
The booklet before us was released immediately after the war to defend Paul’s reputation. After France’s liberation, he became Minister of Industrial Production in Charles de Gaulle’s interim government.
Rare. Only one listing in the world cat global library catalog at a library in France.
23 p. Stains. Good condition.
