James McAuley: The House of Fragile Things (1942)

The Fall of France in the summer of 1940 upended many lives. One of those who lost their status and safety was the wealthy Jewish heiress, Béatrice de Camondo.

In this episode James McAuley tells Béatrice's tragic story, a story that ultimately ended with her deportation east to Auschwitz. Along the way he explains the early twentieth century world that Béatrice came from: a world of art, style and grace.

Looking back at the art collections that once belonged to Jewish families like the de Camondo, McAuley questions the meaning of them. What were these collections for? What do they tell us about the people that assembled them now that they have gone? 

As ever, much, much more about this episode – including a fascinating colourised image of Nissim de Camondo, Béatrice's elder brother - is to be found at our website tttpodcast.com.

James McAuley is the Paris Correspondent of the Washington Post. His debut book, The House of Fragile Things, is newly published by Yale University Press.

Show Notes

Scene One: 16 July, 1942. Paris. The Vel d’Hiv roundup of Parisian Jews.

Scene Two: 5 September, 1942. The forest of Ermonville. Béatrice de Camondo writes a letter to a childhood friend.

Scene Three: The night of December 5, 1942. Neuilly-sur-Seine. Béatrice de Camondo arrested with her daughter, Fanny.

Memento: The library of Theodore Reinach at the Villa Kerylos, ransacked by the Gestapo during the War.

People/Social

Presenter: Peter Moore

Guest: James McAuley

Reading: Nadia Fontaine

Producer: Maria Nolan

Titles: Jon O

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