Fresnes – Observations of a Collaborateur. Part I, Paris 1947
Rio was a pseudonym of Ralph Soupault (1904-1962), who became known in the 1920s as the leading cartoonist of the French nationalist reaction. Later on he joined the French fascist party PPF, which was led by the former communist activist Jacques Doriot. Like his friend, the groundbreaking novelist Celine, Soupault was a supporter of the German occupying forces and became notorious for his anti-semitic propaganda. In 1946 he was arrested and sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment in Fresnes, a huge institution nearby Paris, which only recently was used by the Gestapo to house members of the French Résistance. In January 1947 Soupault published a detention report consisting of thirty-seven commented drawings. Here he developed a very peculiar graphic style consisting of an imaginative blend of mystical geometrical symbolism, cartoonish stereotypes and a detailled naturalistic approach. “Fresnes. Reportage d’un temoin” appeared in a limited edition and was mainly distributed to his “friends and collaborators”. Soupault was released prematurely three years later due to health reasons.
I am nothing but a five-digit number, a prisoner among 3000 other prisoners – and I´m living day by day the life of all of the other prisoners. I have no other ambition than to give an understanding of the life of people in chains …
LANDSCAPE: The nine bars prevent us from escaping, but they cannot prevent the sun from coming in. As well as our colleagues from vis-à-vis we soon will climb on the window benches to catch a ray of sunshine. This is also the moment of “barter trade”
PROMENDADE: We are caged in a cube of 3 m width, 6 m in length and 3 m height (…) The whole business lasts 1.5 hours or even two when the weather is fine
CHAPEL: We, who fell because of collaboration and those who fell by the Gestapo – who would not leave some traces of his stay ?
SHOWERS: Towards the monthly shower in rows of two – In summer and in winter in this draughty room naked bare
PYSICAL CULTURE: At 5 o’clock in the morning the daily ritual starts in my cell
TO THE BREW: Early in the morning comes the coffee cart with great fanfare … The distributor of the brew is also the largest distributor of news
VISITING HOUR: From one Tuesday to the next (A-L) and from one Thursday to the other (from L – Z) thousands of men wait for that minute, when they can meet the faces of their loved ones
THE DENTIST: He is not unemployed, but has a numerous clientele. The treatment room and the waiting room of the dentist remain the last places where you can chat and make appointments
THE TOWER: When I climb my window- sill I can see the tower, far behind the nine bars…
ARRIVAL: A whole parcel of comrades from Russia has arrived. One must not quote any literary memories to evoke the notorious prison camps of Siberia, which existed long before Dachau and Buchenwald and which causes free people to shiver
CLEANING: The poor Devils from the Urals and Caucasus need the compulsory cleaning badly. Their naked anatomy is even more telling than their raggedness … There is a large contrast between those emaciated “enslaved” and those fatty “economic ones”
SPRING AFTER ALL: Despite the bars, the grass and the flowers are growing – luckily
SALT BOX: Early in the morning one must face up to the inquiries of the tribunal. In pairs one is put into small cells, the so called “salt boxes.” … The graffitis on the walls document the respective political and physical preferences
BOISSY D?ANGLAS: The antechamber of the Inquisition is a very colourful meeting place. You can find all kinds of people, from the Minister to the pimp …
FROM MY WINDOW: Out of the numberous windows of my fellow prisoners I was only able to watch four. There I always made the same observations, like Fabre with his insects …
GAMES AND LAUGHTER: Fine weather prolongs the time one can spend outside the cell …
RETURN FROM THE PROMENADE: On your way back to the cell one must walk in single file
