I – 3 – The Age of Extreme

The Age of Extreme

Reconstructing a family history during the age of extremes in 20th-century Europe brings out the extremes within us as we conduct our research. We must relive the extremes of the past at our desks, at the actual sites where events took place, and in our dreams at night. Every story, in its extremes, holds its own concentrated complexity within us. And we must become aware of this.

childhood in East France 1935

For example: in the families of offenders, extremes were generally trivialized. A child surrounded by an environment that downplays crime in everyday life clings to these myths. The closer the suspicion of a crime comes to the family, the more carefully the child will draw the curtain over the crime. One then fails to see the extremes. When, decades later, researchers pull back the curtain, they immediately plunge into the abyss. But even the myth is not merely a cover-up; it is also a distorted form of remembrance.

Foto right: German Occupiers in Eastern France 1943; Source: Dépôt central des archives de la justice militaire (DCAJM) in Le Blanc  https://lannuaire.service-public.gouv.fr/gouvernement/9bdb4a96-76ac-4050-b044-a39f015fa9ce