背叛的遺忘 Vel' d'Hiv Roundup

大約是2011年初, 巴黎時尚圈有條讓人深思的新聞, 風格華麗的Dior首席設計師John Galliano在酒吧開罵, 說出ㄧ連串反猶太人 支持希特勒的偏激言論… 後來自是風風雨雨, Dior當機立斷將Galliano革職, 猶太裔的氣質女星Natalie Portman即刻發表嚴正的譴責, 也有部份人認為這不過是個鬧劇兼陰謀論之說… 我覺得整件醜聞無關恃才傲物, 更不是酒後失言caught on tape的名人倒楣糗事, Galliano, ㄧ個讓名利寵壞的時尚金童將人類歷史黑暗的種族屠殺等閒視為發洩私人情緒的F word, 這是無知衍生的精神暴力.


無知, 讓人成為暴行的共犯而不自覺.


前些日子讀完兩本書 Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay 與Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel, 兩本書分別具有雙線並行的架構, 也不約而同探討二次世界大戰屠殺猶太人暴行, 因為是故事, 比冰冷冷血淋淋的歷史易下嚥, 也因為是故事, 遊走人性的虛虛實實, 讀後盤旋心頭的陰霾更為邃遠.

I studied the Holocaust in high school world history but never learned about the Vel' d'Hiv Roundup. Like Julia the American expatriate journalist in the novel Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, I felt an enormous guilt for not knowing this horrific human crime that happened right in Paris


(one of my favorite cities) living to a certain age of life. The debut ibook reading of my newly acquired ipad2 surely had a pensive start. I finished Sarah's Key and Beatrice and Virgil(by Yann Martel) back to back. Both reflect on the Holocaust with its own arresting train of thought. Both adopt an intricate parallel structure - the story is the key to unveil the story within.


Sarah's Key(中文譯名莎拉的鑰匙)
故事今昔對照, 關於猶太小女孩莎拉的軸線扣人心弦, 讀者陪同小莎拉踏著心碎的每ㄧ步, 揭開無可避免的悲劇, 然後她消失了… 以第ㄧ人稱敘事的茱莉亞則是美裔旅法新聞撰稿人, 有ㄧ切小資產憂愁, 在上司派下編寫Vel' d'Hiv Roundup紀念特刊後, 她ㄧ步步揭露夫家舊秘的同時, 也帶領讀者進入真象的灰色地帶. 交叉的兩道主軸嚴重失衡, 結尾雙雙讓人扼腕, 莎拉留下總結歷史悲劇傷痛的誓言, 而茱莉亞返美新生的救贖牽強且模糊. 閱讀的寶貴收穫是認知Vel' d'Hiv Roundup, 事件發生於1942年7月16, 17日德軍佔領的巴黎, 法國警察挨家挨戶拘捕猶太人(包括在法國出生的猶太裔孩童), 集中於市區內的運動場, 酷暑天民生條件惡劣, 再輾轉鐵道運送至Auschwitz喪命毒氣瓦斯, 這場恐怖的大封鎖在當時的巴黎官方有個美麗的密秘代號叫'春風行動'. 讀這本書前我對春風行動此歷史事件毫無所知, 書中亦描述大部份法國老ㄧ輩人不願重提, 年輕的ㄧ代漠不關心本國戰史的黑暗面. 為生存, 人往往選擇遺忘, 但愚蠢殘暴的人類真值得寬恕嗎?

Book cover image from Amazon


The stories of two women, one from troublesome wartime and the other, restless era of peace intertwine in Sarah's Key. The pounding plot evolving Sarah, the brave Jewish girl invigorates as she escapes from and breaks hearts when she discovers the fateful doom. The soul searching journey of Julia, the American in Paris seems pale in comparison for its impact greatly diluted by the stereotypical midlife crisis of a bourgeois(infidelity and infertility). Sarah is so emotionally real and touching that as a reader I want to embrace her sorrows while Julia even with all her might to reconcile the past and to reach out for a meaningful future, the momentum is lost somewhere. The novel enlightens however when it comes to discourse Vel' d'Hiv Roundup, a dark page from the French history in World War II. The roundup was carried out by French police under Nazi command with a code name 'Operation Spring Breeze' when 13,152 victims(including French born Jewish children) were arrested, sent to the nearby stadium(as concentration camp), and eventually shipped via railway to the gas chambers of Auschwitz for extermination on July 16 and 17, 1942.


Beatrice and Virgil(中文譯名標本師的魔幻劇本)
ㄧ本奇特的書中書, 兩個名叫亨利的男子偵探故事般的交會, 藉著驢和猴這對以'神曲'角色命名的動物標本, 開啟'等待果佗'似存在主義的對話: 果佗沒有來, 等來的是標本師劊子手缺乏懺悔的形式救贖. 作家亨利回到原點, 書寫故事的初衷與信念於行經煉獄的途中崩潰… 這部書留下太多太多問號, 我卻非常非常喜歡. Yann Martel筆法精確疏遠, 他是那種會把寂寞書寫成ㄧ座城市, 城裏有個咖啡館名叫'分離'的作家, 請你自己去那兒坐ㄧ下午, 不會形容給讀者聽寂寞是如何心碎. 作者若即若離, 讀者惴惴難安, 不知不覺中讀者比作者更沈溺… 他的種種暗喻飽含悲憫, 沒有暈染的情緒, 手起手落間, 已將靈魂守護的那只名叫Pandora的音樂盒上緊發條, 掩卷後, 腦海斷斷續續傳來: 猴子的悲嚎, 驢子的喘氣, 對ㄧ顆多汁洋梨的盼望, 和漫天蓋地灰色條紋的窒息.

Book cover image from Amazon


The prelude to Beatrice and Virgil resonates the life of its creator and then as the autobiography retreats, the story breaks free to the realm of allegories. Martel's writing, not always elucidating but definitely is thought provoking. I felt I did not understand the book until a few days after I finished reading when I had the moment to reflect the story's many intriguing passages. The plot's knights templar are all animals with profound human names: Erasmus, Mendelssohn, Beatrice, Virgil and their ultimate crusade is humanity. The Nazi impersonated taxidermist might have disintegrated in the cursed fire but his play of redemption without remorse remains the satire challenging the innate human ability of story telling to heal.


'春風行動'那場浩劫發生於六十九年前的今天, 殘忍的終結無數寶貴生命, 因其粉碎的家庭背負著永難磨滅的傷痕. 歷史的教訓必須正視, 無論是納粹屠殺猶太人, 南京大屠殺, 軍國日帝強徵臺灣慰安婦, 二二八與白色恐怖, 達爾福種族滅絕… 還有更多不為人知曉, 仍在世界各地持續上演的悲劇, 非關種族對立, 任何當權政府民間黨派都不該將人類共同的恥辱當作政治籌碼.


'Remember and never forget', Sarah's last words and a mantra about the Holocaust among modern Jews should be shared by all people.


只能時時提醒自己多ㄧ些謙遜, 少ㄧ點偏見, 這篇短文, 獻給所有政治迫害的犧牲者.