The enduring memory of the survival of a Jewish family during the Occupation

In this article, the author describes the memory of the Second World War as it has been passed down within his own family of Alsatian Jews. In the summer of 1940, the Meyers left Alsace and settled in a village in the département of Saône-et-Loire. These war years are analyzed, somewhat counterintuitively, using the concept of “enduring memory,” as developed by the anthropologist Françoise Zonabend. The inherited memories tell of a past characterized by stasis, devoid of individual events, in contrast to other accounts of the persecution suffered by French Jews. The experience of the author’s mother, who was sent away to live with family friends at the age of two, is the only event that stands out clearly.