One Day in France: Tragedy and Betrayal in an Occupied …

A memorable book

Jean-Marie Borzeix’s book looks at the events which took place in a small village in France in World War 2.

We follow the author through his diligent research across Europe as he finds and follows the trail of murder.

However this is not a straight history as Jean-Marie Borzeix also investigates memory - why we remember, what we remember and what we forget.

A memorable book that is excellently translated, written in rich prose and lovely language.

One Day in France is the account of an event that occurred in the small town of Buceat on April 6, 1944.

The town of Buceat was a hotbed for the French resistance fighters who often used the help of villagers in their fight against the Nazi occupiers. Members of the resistance, the maquisards, derailed trains, ambushed convoys, and found other ways to disrupt the movement of troops and armaments through the Occupied Zone. In the events leading up to 6 April, 1944, the maquisards had attacked a group of German officers and it is the retaliation of the Germans that culminate in the events about which this book is written.

It should be noted that the author set out to write a book detailing the events that took place in this small town. Upon beginning his research, he came upon discrepancies in the story as to the number of men who had actually been killed by the Germans that day. This discovery led him down the path of trying to identify a fifth man that was killed but his death had not been officially recorded. His research led him to members of the fifth man's family who had moved to Israel at the end of the war. Borzeix is able to tell this man's story--something that was denied to most of the Jews who perished at the hands of the Nazis. He also uncovered relevant information using historical archives, but wanted to confirm this information by interviewing villagers who were present that day. What he learned is twofold: people either were not very willing to dredge up and discuss the events of those fateful years of Nazi occupation and; the effects of time on memory have clouded details or were remembered very differently or not at all, by people who were present at the same event.

Post-war France was focused on rebuilding and moving beyond the events of WWII so it is no surprise that citizens didn't want to recount the atrocities that they had seen, nor did they want to risk the possibility of anyone thinking that they had collaborated with the Nazis in any way. Therefore, the details of this event and many similar events weren't discussed until many years later so unfortunately, eyewitness accounts must be matched with available historical data to give the most accurate portrayal of such an event that occurred on 6 April, 1944. Author Jean-Marie Borzeix has done a superb job of exhausting all available resources to write an informative and captivating depiction of one of many atrocities that took place under Nazi occupation.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me an ARC of this informative and well-researched book.

It’s taken me a long time to read this book, but not because it wasn’t interesting. It was just a bit too wordy and flowery in prose, and I really just wanted it to get to the point.
The author traces the tragic events of one day in a small French village during WW2. Until his investigation it was accepted that 4 resistance fighters were executed by the Nazis on that day, but the author discovers that 11 others were murdered and yet more others, including children were transported to prison camps. He traces their long forgotten names and histories and records them, including contacting descendants.

It makes you realise how many other names and stories and lives were forgotten, not just in this war, but in many. It also highlights the many Jews who fled to France and lived hidden during the war, until/or, if and when they were discovered and met their fate, or survived to live in peace time.

He explores memories and history, forgotten and surpressed, and for me it really shows how much of history and life is lost because people don’t tell their stories or recap what they saw or heard. The more shocking it is, the more humans themselves cover it up, we don’t even need the gov and the other bad guys doing the covering because it also happens by the “man in the street” witness.

This story was likely played out in many villages and towns across France, the Netherlands, and other places, so it’s not just a story of this day, or this village, ut so much more.

A history written in beautiful language (even in translation!) about the author's interest in digging up information about the tragic events that took place on a single day in a French village, when German soldiers murdered several (likely) Resistance members and probably an additional person, a Jewish man who may or may not have been linked to the Resistance too. And they deported the town's Jewish residents before they called it a day. This is the catalyst, at least. From there, it's a difficult and emotional search dependent on those willing to tell the truth, faulty and rapidly fading or completely deteriorating memories, and hoping for good luck and chance.

Unfortunately, little information was available about those involved - details are scant and complicated underground stories had many holes in their narratives. So his task was a fairly monumental one, and there were limits to how successful the endeavor could be. Even descendants of the murdered Jewish man were in the dark about the truth, so much so that they engraved their phone numbers on his memorial stone, in the hopes that someone who knew something would see and help them put some of their own pieces together. It's kind of beautiful and remarkable that this bottle in the ocean, as he says, reached someone.

Some very poignant sections deal with memory and how it affects perception and understanding, how these can vary wildly, and how national identity and distance from the past plays into what we allow ourselves to remember. And of course, the reality that we're rapidly approaching a time of dwindling survivors who witnessed and participated in this history. For those who remain, recalling isn't simple. Borzeix writes of how difficult it is for some interviewees to hold onto one clear idea amidst otherwise foggy thoughts, and makes several powerful analogies like, "I ask my interviewees to dig deep into their memories, to go down into a well that, while it may not have completely dried up, has usually not produced any water for many years." What a vivid image.

The translation is nothing short of excellent, reading smoothly and naturally and as I mentioned, at times poetic and and rich. I was so caught up with this line: "On some evenings the silence is so complete that a dead leaf, frozen stiff by the first frosts and blowing through the empty streets of the town, makes a noise that seems to fill the whole space. As if there are no longer any inhabitants alive, as if the past has finally triumphed over the present and vanquished it once and for all." Gorgeous.

The book is relatively short, and focuses on exploring aspects of what he was able to bring to the surface - however disjointed this information may sometimes be, while exploring the limits of what and how we remember. My only complaint was that at times I was downright confused, whether by names or maybe-names, dates, lineage, moves, connections...it was all sometimes a bit difficult to untangle, maybe because it was necessary to skip around through time and place to create something book-length. But a completely worthwhile read, maybe especially for the dreamy meditations on memory and chance.

Advanced copy provided for review courtesy of the publisher and Netgalley.

A gem of a book. Caught my eye because the events took place close to a favourite and much visited spot of mine in France. Delighted it did as it is a very moving account -- written by a loacal born lad who later became among other things former director of Radio Culture -- of events that took place during the Occupation in very rural France and the search for the resting place of a Jewish refugee hairdresser from Belgium Chaim Rozent. It begins with the summary execution of elderly farming stock by the Nazis and then spreads out to the pursuit of what happened to Rozent and the tragic rafle (sweeping up) of other Jews being harboured in the village of Bugeat.Borzeix does not spare the collusion/collaboration of his compatriots in the dark days he speaks of how the pages relating to the sweep have been 'very deliberately and neatly cut out' from the record books of the Bugeat gendarmerie. As he acidly observes 'To wirte history is to fill in blanks. In our local history, a large number of blanks remain.' The barriers he faces in establishing the events of that day are borne out even for a loacl by a wall of silence from many.'You should have questioned some of the people who are now dead, I am frequently told, especially those who have recently died for it seems, those are the people who knew everything ...(the most precious, the most irreplaceable is always the one who has most recently passed on)' he observes drily. Thankfully being the good journalist he is and devoted to his task he continues and there is a very moving denouement and a shocking final flourish.

GNAB I received a free electronic copy of this history from Netgalley, Jean-Marie Borzeix, and I.B. Tauris and Company in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your work with me.

This is a study of the various happenings of April 6, 1944 in the village of Bugout, a small, mountainous community in Vichy-controlled France. Jean-Marie Borzeik begins this story attempting to run down the facts behind the Thursday before Easter 1944 murders of four men in his hometown.

We are able to follow him through his research of many data collections and libraries throughout Europe. We are with him when he finds and follows the trail of the fifth man murdered on that day, when he finds and follows the train carrying Jewish women and children away, eventually to Auschwitz. And when he has found all that can be found of the facts, hour by hour, of this day in this typical French village, he brings in the families and descendants of these victims, and shares that knowledge with them. I am so grateful that he also shared that knowledge with me.

The side trip into the quirks of memory - why we remember, what we remember, what we forget - is also a welcome peek into cause and effect of war crimes. Atrocities can only happen when it is possible for onlookers to divorce themselves from the whole process, to justify the end results in their minds. This one really makes you look at events in our current lives with a different focus.

Pub date June 21, 2016

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.

Everyone knows that no one event is remembered the same way by everyone involved. Memory becomes even harder to pin down when those involved in the event have reason not to remember or lose that memory though illness or death.

In many ways, this hard to search for truth is what Borzeix is trying to straighten out in this book. He wants to discover the truth behind the death of four people, perhaps connected to the Resistance, as well as more about the fifth man that not everyone talks about. The fifth man was a Jewish man whose family survived the Holocaust. It is a discussion and a letter about a memorial and tombstone that, in part, sets Borzeix upon his quest. He also seems possessed by a desire to discover and come to terms with Occupied France’s treatment of its Jewish population.

The investigation aspect of the book is engrossing, if a little disorganized. At times, the direction of the book is a little choppy to follow. That said, the most important parts of the book conceal the sections about memory, in particular national memory and a struggle to come to terms with a nation’s past. Considering that is something many nations are dealing with, it brings the work a step above most.

Review originally published at Book of Bogan
I received a review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

One Day in France is an interesting look at the events which took place in a small village in France, with the author unpicking the pieces of the story through investigative journalism, tracking down survivors and sifting through their memories of the events. I suppose it is an interesting study in the way that people recall things, and the different stories we tell each other.

In all honesty, as much as I found it an interesting story, the somewhat disjointed structure of the book made it slightly difficult to follow at times.

Still an interesting read, although one for the real history buffs.

In lots of ways this is a small story: four men are shot by the Nazis on 6 April 1944. Yet from this tragically unexceptional opening event Borzeix has spun a tale that encompasses the German occuption, the Resistance and the fates of French Jews in the Holocaust. As he says himself, modern history has expanded from the large narrative of 'great men' and now encompasses 'the marginal, the local, the dissident, the partisan': a description that fits this book perfectly.

Overall, then, an intimate and investigative story that uses one shooting in one village to tell a much wider story that still reverberates today.

ARC from netgalley

April 6, 1944....German soldiers enter a small French town looking for resistance fighters and round up 4. Execute them and leave them as an example along a road outside of town. But, there is a 5th body?
The author dives into the past trying to find out who these people were and what part if any they played in the resistance.
Interesting reading and a lot to learn about the human mind.

An atmospheric account of atrocities that were committed by the German Army on a small French village in 1944 and the search for the truth many years later.
Very highly recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher I. B. Tauris via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.

Culturally and historically important, this book also has a clear sense of place. Whilst it is a pity that the author was unable to uncover more details, he achieved something very worthwhile in bringing the situation to light. A really good translation.

I was very disappointed in this book. I understand the authors point of view and opinions, I just question how factually sound they are.

Not as interesting as I first thought but a good translation!