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The Holocaust History Project.
The Holocaust History Project.

WHEREVER THEY MAY BE
© 1972, The Beate Klarsfeld Foundation
 
 
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always found them before they knew what was up. The partisans of those criminals, however, were not so considerate. They had to strike, even blindly. Their objective was to get rid of me or one of my family. On the afternoon of May 10, I left to give a lecture in Cannes for the LICA. Arno went with me, for I wanted to spend a few days with him just resting. That's how we escaped being killed, for this is what happened after we left.

At 5 P.M. our concierge brought up a package addressed to Mme. Beate Klarsfeld that the postman had left. "Probably a nice present," she said.

My mother-in-law set the package on a table, but she was struck by the fact that the postmark, "Paris, May 9, Av. de Wagram, 12:30" did not correspond to the sender's address. The sender was a Samuel Ségal, of "Les Guillerettes, par 34-Gignac." Her suspicions were aroused, but she decided to do nothing until Serge came home. Serge arrived at 6:30 P.M., and removed the outer wrapping of tarred paper, under which he found a soft cardboard box. Inside, well wrapped in tissue paper, was a second box done up in fancy paper and bearing the label of "Marquis" confectioners. Serge removed the paper and found a yellow-orange cylindrical box labeled "Sugar."

"I was astonished," he told me over the telephone. "Who could have been sending us sugar? Yet, do you remember that Mr. Etzold, the former German deportee, who came to the apartment two weeks ago to bring us a present of German black bread? It seemed possible that he might be sending us some sugar now. But when I looked carefully at the wrapping paper, I noticed little black specks like soot. Mama thought it might be black sugar.

"I put a speck on my tongue. It tasted sour. Then I touched a match to a few specks I had spread on the sink. They burst into flame. My suspicions were confirmed.

"I asked Information if she had a number for a Samuel Ségal in Gignac. No. Then I got the number of the Gignac police station. An officer checked it out, then told me he knew of no Ségal or of any place named Les Guillerettes. Then I called `Marquis.' No, they did not put out boxes of sugar like the one I described. By then I was thoroughly convinced that it was something dangerous.

"I put the whole business into a shopping bag and went to the Auteuil police station. I warned the police there, who were skeptical at first, that it might well be a box of candy, but might also be a bomb. The superintendent immediately put in a call for the
    
   
 
WHEREVER THEY MAY BE
© 1972, The Beate Klarsfeld Foundation
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