Last week, Ivy Barsky, (our deputy director and) curator of Woman of Letters: Irène Némirovsky and Suite Française, reminded us that July is a very poignant month to visit because the exhibit really gives us a sense of what Irène’s last days were like in July 1942.
This is just an excerpt of events and of Irène’s words.
On July 11 Irène wrote to her publisher about Suite Française “I have written a lot recently. I suppose that these will be posthumous works, but it makes the time pass more quickly.”
On July 13 Irène is arrested at her home in Issy-l’Évêque and taken to the police station at Toulon-sur-Arroux on the pretext of the “general laws against stateless Jews between the ages of sixteen and forty-five.”
*She writes a letter to her husband “Mon cher amour, for the moment I am at the police station…I am convinced it won’t be long. I shower my darling daughters with kisses. I hold you close to my heart…May God protect you. As for me, I feel calm and strong.”
On July 15 she arrives at the Pithiviers internment camp.
*On July 16 she is registered at the camp and writes a last letter to her husband and daughters. “My dearest love, my cherished children, I think we are leaving today. Courage and hope. You are in my heart, my loved ones. May God help us all.”
On July 17 Irène departs with convoy number six from Pithiviers for Auschwitz-Birkenau with 890 men and 118 other women.
On July 19 Convoy number 6 arrives at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Irène dies of typhus on August 19.
Please visit the Museum soon for the full story about this remarkable writer, wife, and, mother, and to see these very moving artifacts in person.
*(artifacts on display at the Museum of Jewish Heritage through August 30)
This is just an excerpt of events and of Irène’s words.
On July 11 Irène wrote to her publisher about Suite Française “I have written a lot recently. I suppose that these will be posthumous works, but it makes the time pass more quickly.”
On July 13 Irène is arrested at her home in Issy-l’Évêque and taken to the police station at Toulon-sur-Arroux on the pretext of the “general laws against stateless Jews between the ages of sixteen and forty-five.”
*She writes a letter to her husband “Mon cher amour, for the moment I am at the police station…I am convinced it won’t be long. I shower my darling daughters with kisses. I hold you close to my heart…May God protect you. As for me, I feel calm and strong.”
On July 15 she arrives at the Pithiviers internment camp.
*On July 16 she is registered at the camp and writes a last letter to her husband and daughters. “My dearest love, my cherished children, I think we are leaving today. Courage and hope. You are in my heart, my loved ones. May God help us all.”
On July 17 Irène departs with convoy number six from Pithiviers for Auschwitz-Birkenau with 890 men and 118 other women.
On July 19 Convoy number 6 arrives at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Irène dies of typhus on August 19.
Please visit the Museum soon for the full story about this remarkable writer, wife, and, mother, and to see these very moving artifacts in person.
*(artifacts on display at the Museum of Jewish Heritage through August 30)
Thank you to Five Ties' companion book for additional information and, of course, to IMEC, our co-producers for the exhibition. The book is available in the Pickman Museum Shop.
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