Patrick Modiano
Dora Bruder (1997)
Patrick Modiano, ayant retrouvé un avis de recherche dans un numéro de Paris-Soir du 31 décembre 1941, décide d'enquêter sur la jeune Dora Bruder, née le 25 février 1926 à l'hôpital Rothschild dans le 12e arrondissement de Paris et domiciliée au 41, boulevard Ornano, qui a disparu à l'âge de 15 ans à la suite de fugues répétées puis d'arrestations par la police française. Cherchant à retracer le plus d'éléments possibles de la vie de cette jeune fille — à laquelle Modiano s'identifie de plus en plus intimement — l'auteur analyse toutes les données retrouvées (souvent sous forme d'extraits de documents officiels de la période 1941-1942), entrecoupées de passages de sa propre existence et de celle de son père, mises en relation avec celle de Dora.
Dora Bruder et son père, juif d'origine autrichienne, furent à quelques mois d'intervalle arrêtés, emprisonnés à la caserne des Tourelles du boulevard Mortier, puis internés au Camp de Drancy avant d'être déportés à Auschwitzle 18 septembre 1942, date du convoi qui les emporta vers les camps de la mort.
The bridge of Arts
Opposite the apartment, the Pont des Arts allows you to pass in a few strides from the left bank to the right bank. Modiano will cross this symbolic border very early to join his mother who plays au Fountain Theater. And to discover new neighborhoods.
"Passing on the right bank, I had the feeling of entering a space of freedom but also of disturbing adventure. It is linked to very specific memories of a police station, which was installed in the square courtyard of the Louvre, just before rue de Rivoli. For me, it symbolizes a kind of customs post. We reached the left bank by the very provincial Pont des Arts, which was rather charming. On the other hand, I could not access the left bank right, at least in my imagination as a 14-year-old child who still thought he was breaking the law, that by crossing this dark and threatening customs guarded by policemen in caps..."
The bridge of Arts
Opposite the apartment, the Pont des Arts allows you to pass in a few strides from the left bank to the right bank. Modiano will cross this symbolic border very early to join his mother who plays au Fountain Theater. And to discover new neighborhoods.
"Passing on the right bank, I had the feeling of entering a space of freedom but also of disturbing adventure. It is linked to very specific memories of a police station, which was installed in the square courtyard of the Louvre, just before rue de Rivoli. For me, it symbolizes a kind of customs post. We reached the left bank by the very provincial Pont des Arts, which was rather charming. On the other hand, I could not access the left bank right, at least in my imagination as a 14-year-old child who still thought he was breaking the law, that by crossing this dark and threatening customs guarded by policemen in caps..."