“One Train May Hide Another”: Arnaud Rykner’s Le Wagon as Authentic Fiction

Originally published in 2010 (Rouergue), and then in 2012 (Actes Sud), Le Wagon is the sixth work of fiction of French novelist, playwright and scholar, Arnaud Rykner. The novel follows a twenty-two-year-old Jewish resister, deported on Convoy no. 7909, on 2 July 1944. The train, which he boarded together with 2165 other men (mostly resisters, but not only), was the last one to leave Compiègne for Dachau. Since at least 536 of the deportees perished during a journey lasting two and a half days, the convoy became known as “the train of death.” While this may sound like the title of a horror film, the horror of this journey was very much real. The ordeal of the deportees, who were dying or going insane because of the stifling heat, thirst and lack of fresh air, has been amply documented by historians. In this context, can Le Wagon be considered a novel?

In his talk, Arnaud Rykner will discuss his book’s generic status and relation to historical documents and testimonies, as well as the role of historical fiction in attaining and transmitting the truth about the Holocaust.

The event will be chaired by Dr. Helena Duffy from the Holocaust Research Institute, Royal Holloway University of London.