The Sixth Lamentation Part 23

'I suggest it is false. Words are weak. Do you agree?'

'Possibly; I don't follow you.'

Mr Justice Pollbrook put down his pen, his baleful eyes resting on Mr Bartlett who said: 'In the mouth of one they disclose; in the mouth of another they disguise. Words cannot resist corruption. Those who hear them can be easily deceived. Do you agree?'

'Mr Bartlett,' interrupted Mr Justice Pollbrook indulgently, 'are you leading us to the pleasures of Wittgenstein?'

'Oh no, my Lord, I very much doubt if that would a.s.sist the jury.'

'They already look rather bemused, and I am among their number.'

'All will become clear, my Lord, if I may continue.'

'Please do.'

'I'm most grateful.'

Mr Bartlett then abruptly changed subject, the previous exchanges left suspended in the memory as a tidy, distinct cameo. 'Doctor Vallon, you told my learned friend that in June 1942 Eichmann summoned his representatives from France, Belgium and Holland to Berlin in order to plan the deportations. He wanted to begin with France, is that right?'

'Yes. It was to be a grand sweep across Europe, from West to East.' The academic leaned forward, a fearless, authoritative stare fixed upon his interrogator.

'And there had been a vast influx of Jews into France throughout the thirties, up to the spring of 1940?'

'Yes.'

'Driven out by n.a.z.i terror?'

'Yes.'

'Doctor Vallon, is it right to say that the parlance of the day distinguished between "Israelites" and "Juifs"?'

'Yes.'

"'Israelite" was a relatively polite term describing French- born Jews who were "a.s.similated"?'

'Correct.'

'And "Juif" had a pejorative overtone, referring to foreign-born Jews?'

'That's right.'

'The distinction did not exist, of course, in the refined vocabulary of the German authorities?'

'Absolutely not. '

'That said, would it be right to say Eichmann effectively exploited the distinction in order to commence his programme of expulsion with as little protest as possible?'

'Yes, although I don't know if he thought in those terms. He wanted to use the French administrative machinery in the planned deportations, so he began with the stateless Jews, the emigres, knowing that the relevant officials were reluctant to pay their resettlement cost in France. '

'That is a most unfortunate turn of phrase in the circ.u.mstances ...

'I meant no-'

'Of course, it was innocently used. However, Doctor Vallon, the innocence of language is a subject to which we shall heavily return.' Mr Bartlett frowned, looking at the jury. Then he said, 'However, let's stay with the word "resettlement". Do you accept that the cooperation of the Vichy authorities relied upon an understanding that these Jews were being resettled in the East?'

'That is too broad a question. At the highest level I don't think reliance upon an understanding came into it. Several Vichy officials were openly anti-Semitic, and for them the removal of Jews from France needed little encouragement or explanation.

Throughout the various government departments that carried out the orders, however, there were obviously shades of opinion and levels of knowledge.'

'Is it fair to say that a substantial number of people - officials and members of the public - were unaware of the killings, and believed that "resettlement" meant just what it said?'

'Many may have done so, yes, but only at the outset.'

'Subsequently, did French cooperation, if that is the word, proceed in an untroubled fashion?'

'No.'

'Why?'

'The general population were appalled by the ma.s.s arrests of 1942. Thereafter, State anti-Semitism, which had prevailed through indifference or agreement, was gradually undermined by civil resistance. Thus, when Eichmann wanted to move against the French Jews, the authorities refused, no doubt wary of how the public might respond. Official capitulation slowed down, under protest, and the deportation programme floundered. By this stage, rumours of what "resettlement" meant had begun to trickle through. Thousands went into hiding. By the end of the war there were still two hundred and fifty thousand Jews in France. But the scale of the killing was horrendous. A quarter of the Jewish population were murdered.'

'My Lord,' said Mr Bartlett, 'may I suggest a short break? These are not easy matters for the jury to hear.'

'Or indeed any of us,' said Mr Justice Pollbrook. 'Half an hour, ladies and gentlemen.'

3.

Lucy stood with Mr Lachaise and Max outside the courtroom. Max had his hands thrust deep into his pockets and was staring at the floor. Mr Lachaise said: 'What we are hearing is a prelude to the argument for ignorance. It is heartbreaking.'

Lucy glanced at the small man with the ever-gentle manner, still wearing the same cardigan. Who was he, beyond his name? She dared not ask. In a peculiar way he frightened her. He spoke with chilling authority.

'In 1941 Radio Moscow revealed that Soviet Jews were being ma.s.sacred by advancing n.a.z.i troops. In 1942 the BBC described large-scale transfers of Polish Jews from ghettos to camps. Reports of ma.s.s extermination in places like Chelimno got to London in May 1942. The Polish Resistance informed London about the ga.s.sings at Auschwitz in March 1943. You cannot annihilate a people without the world finding out.'

Max, with his eyes still fixed on the floor, his shoulders pressed inwards, folding into himself, suddenly whispered, harshly: 'The Defendant is my grandfather. I'm sorry. You can't possibly want me anywhere near you ... or to come to my studio ... I think it's best if-'

'I know exactly who you are,' said Mr Lachaise in the same dry, authoritative voice. 'And I want to see your paintings.'

The usher pushed open the door to the court and called everyone back. Mr Lachaise took Max by the arm and Lucy followed.

4.

Within minutes Mr Bartlett had referred to the reports of killing described to Lucy during the adjournment, some of which had not been publicised at the time of receipt. He then said: 'As regards the population in France, they may have come across non-specific rumours that some people would not have believed?'

'Unfortunately'

'For the rumours were incredible?' 'That is part of the tragedy Yes.'

'Reasonably rejected by any right-minded person?'

'Not quite, Mr Bartlett. You appear to have missed the point I made before. Cooperation floundered because there were others who did believe the rumours.

'But you do accept there was room for both positions -acceptance and rejection.'

'Of course.

Mr Bartlett stopped asking questions. Lucy sensed the turning of a lens, a movement away from the last words to a sharpening of focus on what was about to come next. He said: 'Would you credit Mr Schwermann with the same beliefs and suspicions as a French policeman aged twenty-three based in Paris?'

Doctor Vallon all but laughed. 'The proposition is offensive. He was part of the machinery. He had daily contact with Eichmann in Berlin.'

'There is no room for doubt?'

'In my view, no.'

'None whatsoever?'

'None.'

Lucy felt deep unease. Doctor Vallon was only saying what Mr Bartlett expected him to say Mr Bartlett said, 'Would you be so kind as to consider Volume Seven, section A, page two.'

Doctor Vallon was handed a ring-binder. He found the page and gave a nod of recognition.

'This is a telex from Paris to Department IV B4 in Berlin, dated August 1942,' said Mr Bartlett.

'It is.'

'From Mr Schwermann?'

'Yes.'

'To Adolf Eichmann?'

'Correct.'

'Please tell the jury what this telex is all about.'

'It reports that a thousand Jews had been transported from Drancy to Auschwitz.'

'Turn the page, please. This is a memorandum referring to the same transport. What does it record?'

'That sufficient food for two weeks had been provided in separate trucks by the French government. '

'This was not an uncommon practice, Doctor Vallon, was it?'

'No, but-'

'Don't be grudging with the facts, Doctor Vallon; it is there in black and white. Provisions were being sent with these pa.s.sengers .

'I'm not being grudging with the facts-'

'This is entirely consistent with resettlement, rather than extermination?'

Doctor Vallon closed the folder and snapped, 'None of the food was distributed. It was taken by the guards at Auschwitz.'

Unperturbed, Mr Bartlett said mildly, 'Answer the question, please. The texts are consistent with a perceived policy of emigration, and wholly inconsistent with a policy of execution upon arrival, are they not?'

'As words on a page, possibly'

'Don't scorn ordinary meaning, Doctor. These are words, not runes.

'I'm well aware of that: 'Anyone reading these doc.u.ments could have understood them to reflect a policy of resettlement outside France. Yes?'

'An ignorant reader might think that fifty years after the event, but not the author. I keep stressing to you, he was a part of the machinery. There are other SS memoranda in these files which expressly state the Jews were to be ausgerottet - eradicated.'

'Yes, I know,' said Mr Bartlett in a measured, patient voice. 'And none of them were written by Mr Schwermann, were they?'

'No, but-'

'And there is not a shred of evidence that Mr Schwermann ever read them?'

'Well, we don't know. '

'There is no suggestion that he used such language himself?'

'Not as such, but it is an obvious inference that he-'

'Doctor Vallon, we'll leave the jury to do the inferring. Among this ma.s.s of doc.u.mentation there is not a single sentence that demonstrates Mr Schwermann had explicit knowledge of extermination, is there?'

'There isn't a piece of paper that says so, no.

'And there are lots of other pieces of paper that record very different terms to ausgerottet, terms that we know Mr Schwermann read and used.'

Doctor Vallon had guessed the next direction of attack. He said, 'Yes, and they're all tarnung - camouflage.'

Mr Bartlett opened a file. 'Indeed,' he said warmly 'Perhaps now is the time to consider the innocence of language, whose ordinary use can so easily trap the unwary, even the likes of yourself. Please turn to File Nine, page three hundred and sixty-seven, and consider the words on the schedule.'

A clerk brought the file to Doctor Vallon, who went on to agree that the German High Command were extraordinarily concerned about the vocabulary to be used when describing the process of deportation to Auschwitz. It was variously described as Evakuierung (evacuation), Umsiedlung (resettlement) and Abwanderung (emigration), or Verschickung zur Zw.a.n.gsarbeit (sending away for forced labour) . Even the architects and engineers at Auschwitz referred to the gas chambers as Badeanstalte fur Sonderaktionen (bathhouses for special actions) . Their memoranda recorded the phrase in quotation marks. And, of course, the entire apparatus of genocide was named die Endlosung (the Final Solution) .