“All my father had written on the back of the photo was ‘Paris, 1944’ and the name of Stroz. That year, I found the Paris phone book online and wrote to every person with this name.” These are the words of author Jane Gabin as she describes the inception of what would eventually become The Paris Photo, a narrative based upon the experiences of her father in Paris during the final days of WWII.
Finding a previously-unknown photo among her late father’s papers, college professor Judith Gordon sets out to locate the boy in the group picture almost 70 years after it was taken. The story is the tale of a young mother who courageously protects her child, Guy, by keeping him hidden during the War. However, there is a long-lasting cost. The book blends mystery, historical fact, and romance as the narrative unfolds.
“What I want readers to understand is that the past never goes away. What people do, or do not do, has results. And these do not fade. People just don’t disappear; they are not erased. It is very important to remember what happened.”
Read on for more insight into how Gabin transformed her journey into a debut novel.
Q: The book is drawn from your father’s experiences in Paris during the end of WWII. Please explain the connection and how you turned it into this novel.
A: First, I had to deal with the identity of the people in the picture. I was totally amazed when I got a phone (and then a letter) from Georges Stroz in response to my inquiry. All my father had written on the back of the photo was “Paris, 1944” and the name of Stroz. That year, I found the Paris phone book online and wrote to every person with this name. But I didn’t mention my father’s first name or rank. I made copies of the picture. Most didn’t answer, though I got some responses along the lines of “I took your letter to a family dinner, but no one recognized anybody.” Then I got a call from a man who immediately said my father’s name. I got chills. I spoke to him, which was difficult as he didn’t speak much English and I had no French. I made plans to visit Paris and learn as much French as I could by the summer. It took me years to decide to write Georges’ story. I visited him every summer. I realized that the holes in the story – and there were a few – could be told, but only if they were constructed. That’s when I realized the story had to be fiction.
Q: The book has been described as mystery, historical fiction and romance. Is that how you would characterize it, and how do you go about blending the influences of the different genres?
A: I needed to check the story I heard against what really happened in Paris during the war. So I delved into history, and read a tremendous amount about the Occupation. One of the best books I read was When Paris Went Dark by Ronald Rosbottom, who teaches history at Amherst, and got to meet him. I wanted to be sure that when I wrote I was historically accurate. That was the history. The mystery was what I did not, and could not know. Same thing with the romance. I imagined that Ben felt something for Simone, Georges’s mother. But she had no idea of what had really happened to her husband. No one did, at first. Thousands of people had been deported – but no one knew that they had ultimately been murdered.
Q: The effects of war are well documented. But you delve deeply into those emotions of two characters, Ben and Judith, from different perspectives. Tell us about their heartbreak.
A: Some American soldiers returned from France with French wives or fiancées. My father didn’t. I had to imagine what that felt like for both Ben and Simone. For her especially, it would have meant so many adjustments to a completely new way of life.
Q: Research is a big part of the book – the research of Judith to piece together her father’s story, and your own research into the period and the history. Tell us about that.
A: I did a tremendous amount of research for this book. I now know exactly which convoy to Auschwitz Georges’ father was on. I went to Drancy, just a little way outside of Paris, where there is a branch of the Memorial de la Shoah across the street from what was the camp. It was chilling. The buildings are finished now, and it is low-cost housing as it was intended to be. But there are memorial plaques and the addition of a train boxcar to indicate the nefarious purpose of the camp. I found the building where, I think, Georges’ father had been confined. It is galling to see photos of Drancy in its early days when it was guarded by a few French policemen. Few! And French! If there was any doubt about official collaboration, these photos dispel it. The French government should be ashamed of their guilt in aiding the Nazi plans. It took 50 years for France to acknowledge this. I attended a ceremony memorializing the victims of the Vel d’Hiv roundup and was honored to meet Serge and Béate Klarsfeld. Their memoir, Hunting the Truth, is amazing. France is a haunted country.
Q: What do you hope readers will take away from this book?
A: What I want readers to understand is that the past never goes away. What people do, or do not do, has results. And these do not fade. People just don’t disappear; they are not erased. It is very important to remember what happened. As we are now seeing, history repeats itself over and over. Evil emerges, and people need to be prepared to take it on.
Q: What is your next project?
A: I am working on a story about what is called the “spoilation” of French Jewry. In WWII, it was not enough for the Nazis to kill people. They systematically stripped Jewish homes of everything. I am not referring to large items like paintings, and stolen art is still turning up on the world market. I mean pots and pans, table linens, and toys. This is central to my story.
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About Jane Gabin:
Jane has worked at schools in New York City for many years as a college counselor, primarily at the United Nations International School. For 10 years she contributed a column, “Ask the College Counselor,” at www.insideschools.org where she answered readers’ questions about the college application process. In addition, she contributed her expertise to programs for underrepresented urban students and for new speakers of English.
Degrees: PhD, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; BA, Queens College of the City University of NY
Member: Higher Education Consultants Association, NACAC, SACAC
