Maurice Sachs
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Maurice Sachs was a French writer, born Maurice Ettinghausen, (1906, Paris - April 14, 1945, Germany). He was the son of a great Jewish family of jewelers.
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[edit] Work and Homosexuality
Employed by the Gestapo in Hamburg, Germany, Sachs infiltrated the Obligatory Work Service, and in 1943 led a life of adventure and espionage in the shady areas of black market traffickers, romping about with young French in the Legion of French Volunteers (LVF), intoxicating himself with simple pleasures, tricking and swindling others, and betraying anyone without hesitation for any sort of incentive. He is also well known under his nickname, "Maurice the aunt." He lived with two young French homosexual colleagues, Philippe Monceau and Paul Martel. In November 1943, the Gestapo, tired of Sachs's mistakes, imprudence, and false reports, terminated his work. Ironically, Sachs was imprisoned in Fuhlsbütteln, a place where he had sent many others during his time working for the Gestapo.
[edit] The End
Philippe Monceau, in his book The Last Sabbath (1950), claimed that on one day in 1945, when no guards were around, Sachs was lynched by other prisoners and his body was thrown to the dogs. But Sachs's true end was a lot less spectacular and romantic. In 1945, before the advance of British troops, the prison of Fuhlsbüttel was evacuated and its inmates moved to the city of Kiel. The evacuation consisted of a long march that took many days to complete. On the third day of the journey, April 14, 1945, at 11:00 in the morning, Sachs became too exhausted to continue the march. He was killed by a bullet through his neck, and his body was abandoned at the side of the road with the body of another "companion of the same misfortune." Said Emmanuel Pollaud-Dulian about Sachs, "He does not show much compassion for the Jewish people, and deplores their resignation, which seems to be the dominant feature of their character. On the countryside, when passing a herd of sheep, he sighs sadly saying, 'the Jews...' The drama he plays does not escape him. But, trapped in his state of amorality, Sachs does not believe in the existence of innocent victims."
[edit] Works
- Alias, 1935. ISBN B0000DQN60.
- Au Temps du Boeuf sur le Toit, 1939 e 2005. ISBN 2-246-38822-8.
- André Gide, 1936. ISBN B0000DQN0W.
- Chronique joyeuse et scandaleuse (Joyous and Scandalous Chronicle), Corrêa, 1950. ISBN B0000DS4FF.
- Correspondance, 1925-1939, Gallimard, Paris 2003 ISBN 2-07-073354-8.
- Histoire de John Cooper d'Albany (The Story of John Cooper of Albany), Gallimard, Paris 1955. ISBN B0000DNJVG.
- La décade de l'illusion (The Decade of Illusion), Gallimard, Paris 1950. ISBN B0000DL12G.
- Le Sabbat. Souvenirs d'une jeunesse orageuse (The Sabbath. Memories of a Stormy Youth), Paris 1946. ISBN 2-07-028724-6.
- La chasse à courre (The Hunt), Gallimard, Paris 1997 ISBN 2-07-040278-9.
- Tableaux des moeurs de ce temps (Table of Manners of This Time), Gallimard, Paris 1954. ISBN B0000DL12I.
[edit] Trivia
A shot of the cover of Sachs's novel Abracadabra (1952) momentarily occupies the entire screen during a crucial episode of Breathless, a classic film by Jean-Luc Godard.
[edit] External links
- This article draws heavily on the fr:Maurice Sachs article in the French-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of March 27, 2006.
