October
27
Montreal Holocaust Museum, 5151 Côte-Ste-Catherine Road
Join us on October 27 at 7:00 p.m. at the Montreal Holocaust Museum for the launch of Salomon Buch’s memoir, Un serment à la vie, along with renowned historian Annette Wieviorka, author of the book’s introduction.
The eldest of five children, Salomon grew up with his four sisters in Paris, in the Jewish neighbourhood of Belleville, which he describes as a lively village populated by colourful characters. By the end of the war, nothing remained of this vibrant and welcoming neighbourhood. When the Germans occupied Paris in June 1940, the capital that Salomon loved so much was filled with terror. After his father was arrested, Salomon fled to Lyon in the Free Zone. Tragedy struck with the Vél d’Hiv roundup, when the rest of the family, except for his eldest sister, Denise, was arrested. Alone, she tried in vain to have them released. Sadly, they were deported, and none of them returned. Powerless in the face of disaster, Salomon convinced Denise to join him. Together, they survived the war and rebuilt their lives, bound forever by a shared tragedy and tremendous resilience.
Annette Wieviorka will discuss the context in which Salomon Buch’s memoir was written.
Salomon Buch’s memoir will be distributed free of charge at the launch.
The event will be followed by a reception.
Tickets are free, but reservations are required. Please RSVP HERE.
This event will be in French.
Annette Wieviorka is a historian, honorary research director at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and vice president of the Higher Council of Archives and of the Foundation for the Memory of the Shoah. She chaired the association Témoignages pour mémoire, the French affiliate of the Fortunoff Video Archives, and was a member of the Mission d’étude sur la spoliation des Juifs de France, the Mattéoli Mission, which researched the property looted from Jews in France. Wieviorka is the author of numerous works, including Déportation et génocide : entre la mémoire et l’oubli (1992, reprinted in 2025) ; L’Ere du témoin (1998, translated into English by Jared Stark under the title The Era of the Witness) ; and Auschwitz expliqué à ma fille (1999, translated into twenty languages including English, under the title Auschwitz Explained to My Child). Her latest work, Itinérances (2025), is a collection of articles and a reflection on nearly half a century of research. (Yale University)
