Everything begins with the death of the mother, Marta Popper.
A functional care bed had just been bought for her when she died, in front of the television, where the funeral service for the victims of the attack on a Christmas market was taking place.
The commentator keeps talking about "devotion" and then says that life is coming into its own again, even if, of course, nothing will be the same as it used to be.
Serge, the eldest son, has his first appearance: “Yes, you stupid cow, Serge said, everything will be the same as before.
Within twenty-four hours.”
Rose Maria Gropp
Editor in the Feuilleton.
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With that, the field has already been marked out for Yasmina Reza's current novel, which has just been published in German.
It is about the constantly invoked cult of remembering that cannot be nourished by personal experience, of remembering as a requirement, without the ability to empathize.
The Poppers are a middle-class Jewish family in Paris, the father's side is from Vienna, the mother has Hungarian ancestors who were murdered in Auschwitz.
The father, who has already died, was an ardent supporter of the State of Israel.
He denounced his mother, who did not share his opinion, as an “anti-Semite”.
But the family never talked about the fate of its members.
Yasmina Reza's book accompanies the remaining relatives through part of their lives, including on their journey to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Serge is the eldest son, calls himself a consultant, has a broken existence, is a loser and loudmouth who eats and drinks too much.
His current partner Valentina kicked him out of her apartment because he cheated on her.
Serge's daughter Joséphine, in her early twenties, who is trying out being a beautician, is from his previous marriage.
His younger brother Jean is the first-person narrator.
He has no children, is a perpetual hesitant, but has a secure job, and at some point one learns “an expert in material conductivity”.
The sister Anne, known as Nana, has married the Spanish laborer Ramos Ochoa, a constant target of ridicule for the brothers, which infuriates Nana.
she has two children
The siblings are all in their sixties, their lives largely run the gamut, stuck in patterns that constantly clash.
The cremation of the mother breaks into the obliviousness of those born later: "'It's crazy that a Jewess allows herself to be cremated.'
– 'She wanted it.'” – Serge's daughter Joséphine with her announcement that she would go to “Osvitz”.
This is how this pilgrimage came about, on which they accompany Serge, Jean and Nana.
They want to look for traces of their murdered ancestors at the memorial to the crime against humanity.
But “Auschwitz, or to put it politely, Oswiecim, is the most flower-rich town I have ever seen.
Ever,” Jean explains his first impression.
The former concentration camp in its perfectly preserved condition turns out to be a tourist attraction,