Description:
During August 1942 several women jumped to their deaths from a second story window at the tile factory in the small town of Milles near Aix-en-Provence. Between 1939 and 1942 the factory assumed various roles as internment camp, transit camp and ultimately deportation camp. This book is about the view from the 'suicide window' as it is presented within the Camp des Milles memorial museum which opened in 2012. It explores how this view might help us to understand and imagine the world of internment and deportation camps operating in France during the Second World War and their memorial today. The book uses the views framed by the window to think critically about the museography of the memorial within the wider context of France's relatively late acknowledgment of its role in the persecution of the Jews during the Second World War.
Brief description: Sophie Fuggle is an Associate Professor of Postcolonial Studies and Cultural Heritage at Nottingham Trent University.
Review Quotes:
"The author's ability to locate often unforeseen comparisons with other historical contexts, objects and realities makes for a narrative full of surprising twists and turns that can enrich an otherwise intense, densely packed narrative account." - Richard J. Golsan