- Stock: In Stock
- Author: Peter M. Larsen and Ben Erickson
- ISBN: 9781854432919
- ISBN-13: 9781854432919
- Publisher: Dalton Watson Fine Books
- Publication Year: 2017
- Edition: 1st
- Language: English
- Pages: 1056
- Illustrations: Colour and Black and White
- Format: Hardback - Published Without Dustjackets
- Slipcase: 3 Volumes in Slipcase
- Signed Author: Peter M. Larsen and Ben Erickson
- Limited Edition: 1000 Copies
- Condition Book: Mint
- Condition Dust Jacket: Mint
- Condition Slipcase: Mint
In Paris, spring was in the air on March 21, 1942. It was a welcome
relief. In France, that winter had been one of the coldest in living memory.
But by mid-March, the frost had lost its grip and the pale yellow tips of
Easter Lilies poked timidly out of the soil. On the sidewalks, cafés and
brasseries, life went on as people were at a loss to decide which winter
garment to toss as they soaked up the sun and warmed their hearts with news
that the tides of war finally seemed to be turning.
At Mont Valérien, the prison fortress and Nazi place of execution outside the city, winter remained in the hearts of prisoners and guards alike. Early in the morning, the condemned had been removed from their cells and transported to the place of execution. One by one they were tied to the killing posts to await their death, as the firing squad made ready. The first shots rang out at 4:01 p.m. The last at 4:23. The famous coachbuilder Jacques Kellner and Georges Paulin, the gifted designer of gorgeous aerodynamic cars, were dead. Three of their comrades were also slumped on the ground. It was a routine execution, all in a day’s work.
For the Gestapo-controlled court that had handed down the death sentences and the German conscripts who fired the bullets, it was a case of finishing the business, once the culprits had been caught and “justice” metered out. Some names to cross off a list. For France and the nascent French Résistance, it was the loss of heroes who had been willing to give their lives to fight the Nazis and paid the price. For their relatives and loved ones, it was the unbearable loss of what they held dearest in the world.
The Kellner Affair tells the fascinating story of how
some of the most influential people in the French luxury car business before
the War came together and fought bravely against the Nazi occupation force in
Paris. It goes deeply into their talent, their work, their life and their loved
ones, relying on newly discovered archive material. It is the first factual
account of what took place before that beautiful spring day and what came
after: what happened, how it happened, who was to blame, who was punished and
who was not.