À la recherche de Marie J.

October 1944. Marie and her spouse Moïse were deported to Auschwitz, from where they would not return. At least, that is what their granddaughter, who, seventy years later, decides to retrace the tormented journey of her grandmother, from her native Romania until Italy – illusory refuge from Nazi persecution – passing by Bulgaria and France, believed she knew. The author went first to Jerusalem, then traveled Central Europe in search of biographical elements. In this way, this book criss-crosses two stories: that of the breathtaking inquiry of the author through different countries, and that of the fictional life of a young female Eastern European Sephardic Jew in the first half of the 20th century. At once rigorous investigation and moving family chronicle, this book tells of a line of strong women confronted by one of the most appalling tragedies of European history. [translated and modified from author]