DÉBAT-LITTÉRAIRE - UWE WITTSTOCK MARSEILLE 1940

On the occasion of the publication of the French translation of Marseille 1940 by Editions Grasset, we invite you to a discussion with author Uwe Wittstock and translator Olivier Mannoni. Registration required.

June 1940: in the zone occupied by the German army, the Gestapo hunted down Hannah Arendt, Walter Benjamin, Anna Seghers and Heinrich Mann, in addition to countless German and Austrian citizens who had taken refuge in France since 1933.

Relegated to pariah status by the Vichy regime, intellectuals, artists, political activists and writers fled to the largest port in the free zone, Marseille, hoping to obtain a visa for freedom. When not interned in camps in the south of France, the greatest minds of the time rubbed shoulders in a climate of extraordinary ebullience, worthy of a provisional capital of culture. But the city of Marseille soon became an open-air prison as collaboration intensified, anti-Jewish measures were adopted and police surveillance tightened. Suddenly, in the midst of tragedy, an American journalist named Varian Fry offers a glimmer of hope...

With Marseille 1940, Uwe Wittstock brings the collapse of a world to life alongside its victims and heroes. Born in 1955, Uwe Wittstock is a journalist and literary critic. His bibliography includes books on Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Karl Marx and contemporary German literature. He was also a correspondent for Die Welt in Paris for several years. His previous book, Février 33, was published by Grasset in 2023.

The discussion will be translated by Cornelia Geiser.
In partnership with Le Livre sur la Place and with the support of Editions Grasset.

During this event, photos may be taken and distributed on the institute's communication media (website, social networks, etc.). If you do not wish to be photographed, please inform them on arrival, or let the photographer know.

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