'Auschwitz-Lutetia'
by Pascal MagontierAs part of the commemoration of Yom HaShoah

Deported to Auschwitz by convoy No. 36 in September 1942, Marcel Bercau survives his deportation and the "Marches de la mort". He will wait more than fifty years to testify. Auschwitz- Lutetia tells her story in what is unique: a man who witnesses his own survival and his return to life.

Here he is, this child in the center of the image who does not hold the hand of his parents too busy with keeping the little ones.
He is placed exactly between them, standing, his gaze fixed in the photographer’s lens.
The smile is not appropriate, the photo records a state: this image is the portrait of the Bercau family. The father, the mother and the four children.

To maintain his position during the exposure time required for the photo, Marcel settled (where he was asked to stand) with his forearms resting on his parents' thighs.
Imperceptibly, he lets himself go towards his mother on whom he relies more strongly.

He must be 7 or 8 years old hardly more. His dark gaze, his frowning face, his attitude give the impression of a child ready to pounce when forced to hold a particularly painful position ... maybe he also wants to give the image of a confident, serious, focused child?... an adult in the making? ... does the pose last too long? ... his support on his mother’s knee becomes heavier and connects it to childhood.

Of the six characters in the photo, only Marcel survived.