Celebrated novel about the Arolsen Archives brought out by Piper publishers
The work of the Arolsen Archives and the #StolenMemory campaign in particular provided French author Gaëlle Nohant with inspiration for her novel “Le bureau d’éclaircissement des destins.” Published to high acclaim in France and awarded the “Grand Prix RTL-Lire” for literature, the book has now been published in German under the title “All die gestohlenen Erinnerungen” (literally All the stolen memories).
A Pierrot made of faded cloth, a medallion – no matter how simple and small these objects may be, every one of them keeps a big secret. Every single item was torn from their owners by the Nazis. Now they are to be returned to the victims’ families by French woman Irène on behalf of the Arolsen Archives. Guided by a number inscribed in a piece of cloth, Irène resumes track of 15-year-old Lazar who survived Buchenwald. The adolescent’s trace got lost in Greece. And she finds out incredible things about Wita, a Polish woman, who had the medallion with her in Auschwitz. How will Lazar’s and Wita’s descendants who are scattered all over Europe respond to the fates that return to them with the objects? Irène’s life, too, will no longer be the same as before.
The narrative was researched in close cooperation with the Arolsen Archives. On August 29, 2024, Gaëlle Nohant’s prizewinning novel will be brought out by Piper publishers, translated by Alexandra Baisch.
