Louis-Ferdinand CÉLINE / Signed Autograph Letter / Jews / The Journey / Pamphlet

  

Handwritten letter signed "Louis" to his wife Lucette, under the cover of lawyer Erik V. Hansen [Vestre Faengsel Prison, Copenhagen], February 16, [194]6, 2 p.

Folio in pencil Typographic numbering "18" by another hand for the edition Prison Letters Small stains, browning, small tears in upper margin, fold marks. Long letter about his hatred towards Jews and communists, his standoff with French authorities, his tenderness for Lucette, and his memories of Montmartre. "The books they want me to atone for, Bagatelles and L'École, were published almost 10 years ago! The Voyage, the beginning of my troubles in 1933!

Dear sir, I wish you would have this letter translated by my wife as it is too complicated to write in English. With great concern, I see you finding the idea of me being judged in Paris completely natural. I do not consent to such a thing. I cling to the Right of Asylum like a devil!

Never has any of the refugees here agreed, on beautiful words, to be judged by Hitler! My case is exactly the same. Of course, the Danes would be delighted for me to surrender myself. What a beautiful thorn in their side!

They will have to hand me over and take responsibility after welcoming me for a year. This also worsens my case in Paris. The Paris Prosecutor's Office has issued a warrant for treason.

It was a bluff towards the Danes that was supposed to succeed within 24 hours or fail if details were requested. But the accusation of treason has indeed been officially notified. They must be called on their bluff. In the French Code, and especially in the Purge Code, treason equals death. Asylum is usually granted to political refugees threatened with death. The French Government takes care to officially notify me that they want to shoot me. I will quickly be found to be the main culprit for all Jewish martyrs. The populace is eager to believe this. It is not about justice or truth but about serving my head as vengeance to the Jews and communists. They will find arguments, they will invent them.

Marie [Canavaggia] is like Louise [the heroine of Gustave Charpentier's opera that Céline mentions several times in Féérie]. She has a naive imagination. She does not see the dreadful future - ever. I am a political refugee officially threatened with death.

If the Legation, which knows my address so well, wanted to know my whereabouts, it would have been easy to summon me to the Legation, but I was thrown into prison with the intention of handing me over to the executioners of Paris. Now that the plan has failed, they are lost in quibbles and bad faith. They are unable to explain to the Danes why and how I am a traitor [...

As for death threats, they must have been destroyed during the looting of Girardon Street [referring to the anonymous threats Céline received by mail at the end of the Occupation at his address at 4, rue Girardon]. In the underground Resistance newspapers, I was often, without any provocation on my part, promised torture [... If Paul-Boncour backs down, we must consider Maître Aubépin, Pétain's defender, who seems very brave to me [... I will not have just two lawyers [...

In Paris, fear reigns, they will advance with difficulty. We must hold on to Denmark. Like the Jews, our masters in all things. The fact that I was in Germany burdens me in the eyes of the French, but if I had stayed in Paris, they would have assassinated me [...

I see many birds, they sing at the first sunlight. They are as unhappy as me when it is dark. You taught me to love the little birds well.

It is a great joy that I now enjoy behind bars. The days are getting longer as Inès used to say [The cleaning lady employed by the couple on Girardon Street]. In Bluebeard's garden, the primroses are not far away [One of the gardens that Céline could see from his room].

The blackbird has sung all winter at the bowling alley. The English are now walking up Rue St-Vincent [street in Montmartre]. Chaunard [Claude Chervin] is selling them watercolors [...

If the Communists have not yet taken complete power in France, it is because we still need the Americans too much for reconstruction. Read the French newspapers carefully, especially Le Monde and La Bataille - and the Purge section. All of this guides us.

It is difficult for the Danes to understand the hysteria and political and literary hatred in France. It seems like a novel to them, unfortunately, they only have to think of St. Bartholomew - the Huguenots, 89, 48, 71! It's not the Parisian life side. They do not want to see it.

Mikkelsen alone, I believe, perfectly understands this aspect. The books they want me to atone for, Bagatelles and L'École, were published almost 10 years ago! Go see Hansen on Saturday for the latest news.

The writer flees with his wife Lucette in the early hours of the Purge, in June 1944. Followed by long months on the run, first in Baden-Baden then in Sigmaringen, alongside the collaborationist intelligentsia. Once in Denmark (still occupied) in March 1945, they stay in Copenhagen with Karen Marie Jensen, a friend and former mistress of Céline.

The writer is eventually recognized by several sources. He is finally arrested on December 17, 1945, by Danish authorities. France demands Céline's extradition, which is refused by the Danish Minister of Justice.

The latter fears a quick trial for the pamphleteer, and rightly so: under arrest warrant since April 1945, Céline is charged under article 75 of the penal code for collusion with the enemy and would very likely have been shot if found guilty after his extradition. A showdown between Danish and French authorities ensues. His lawyers Mikkelsen and Hansen play for time to avoid Céline's fate being like Brasillach's. Fourteen months of detention follow for the writer, which in a way save his life. François Gibault, Gallimard, 1998, p.

Henri Godard and Jean-Paul Louis, Pléiade, 2009, n ° 46-5 Contrary to what is reported in note n °1 in the Pléiade edition, Céline does not sign his brief introductory remarks in English to lawyer Erik V. The author writes his name next to "varetægtsfange", which was mandatory for the letter to leave the prison administration.