Sigmaringen by French author Pierre Assouline is inspired by a less known absurd episode from the history of WWII: the short stay of the Vichy regime in the Hohenzollern Castle of Sigmaringen in Germany. For around two months, the main representatives of the Nazi ideology in France run from the Allies victorious armies to Baden Württemberg, with the full agreement of the soon to be destitute German regime, the so-called Vichy-sur-Danube. They were offered luxury treatment and also a French diverse cultural and intellectual programme - L. F. Céline was also there - while the rest of the population was fighting with food limitations, among others.
The book is told from the perspective of the majordome of the castle, who observes everyone like outside of an aquarium while considering his own options and choices. His ethnical and professional obligations prevent him from making real choices and being directly judgemental, but this episode is a challenge for him as well, showing him a life much more complex from the moral point of view as he grew up used to.
Assouline, well-documented, admirably balanced taking into consideration all the human implications and sensibilities. A relatively peripheral episode of the WWII is the pretexte for a humanly magnifying glass moment. Humans do reveal themselves better in such circumstances, but far from being judgemental, in Sigmaringen the personal histories are more important.
The story is slowly developing, with more care for the revelation of details than for pushing towards a specific fast forward pace, with a fantastic unexpected twist at the end of the story. Besides the interesting historical details I was not fully privy to, it was a great pleasure to take the challenge of thinking the moral choices or lack thereof, both in literary and real life. Meanwhile, I can´t wait to read more by this author, and already ordered some more books by Assouline.
Sigmaringen is a recommended read for anyone interested in French-German modern history encounter, as well as in books with a deep human take.
Rating: 4.5 stars
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