And she is. Louise holds out like this for a good three minutes. To change tack and win a bit of time, she gives a dramatic flourish of her arms and repeats the question: “Yes, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what is with the concierge, why is she on the stairs?”
Then she stops. The tightly calibrated time of the Berryer is punctuated by a pause. The silence lengthens, her friends look at her, start to feel anxious. She has only a few minutes left.
Louise seems to be somewhere else. Her cheeks have gone pale, her blue eyes drained of life. Something is happening, the silence digs even deeper, an uncomfortable feeling settles in the room, this is not a show anymore.
“Yes, of course I know why she is on the stairs.”
Her voice has changed, shrugged off any affectation. Louise does not consult her notes, the verve of a defense speech has given way to pure tension. Louise is breathing more quickly, no longer aware of the room:
… It is 1942. The concierge is on the stairs and there are two police officers in kepis climbing up behind her
because she’s on the stairs, the little sign hanging from the door handle of her room says that the concierge is on the stairs
and they say, Hello ma’am, please could you tell us which floor the Blums live on? Blum as in Leon Blum
and she says, the concierge says, Fourth floor on the left, the Blums live on the left on the fourth floor
yes, that’s what the concierge tells them, of course
and it’s true that they live on the fourth floor, these Blums
when you’re a concierge you answer if a police officer asks you a question, you don’t resist
so, sure enough, the police officers ring at the Blums’ door
Blum, as everybody knows, is a German word, it means flower
flower as in the Marlene Dietrich song “Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind,” where have all the flowers gone?
and that’s just what the officers do with the Blums, they pick them like flowers
Good morning, ma’am, good morning, sir
French police
You need to come with us
Yes, it’s very early but you’d better bring your stuff, we don’t know, this could take a while
so the Blums get ready
Hurry please
and the Blums go down the stairs, all four floors with the children
the children
Sarah is seven, Georges ten
Come on, kids, we’re going on a journey, don’t worry, hey, Georges, you could help your mother with her suitcase, it’s too heavy
and hey presto we’re on the bus
bus S. It could be S for summer or seaside or sandcastle, but not this time because this one is really bus SS, isn’t it
and on the seats next to the Blums are the Sterns and the Cohens, office workers and tailors and barbers, but this wasn’t some barber shop quartet, oh no, they were all there. I guess here were some lawyers and magistrates too
forgive me, former lawyers and former magistrates
that’s right, the Blums are now seen in terms of the status hat was enacted in 1940
and the judges apply that status, they apply it willingly
a magistrate is like a concierge on the stairs, you just have to ask him and he tells you which floor, straight out. I mean the law’s the law
Next case please. Right, let’s see what this is. Oh, the Fofana case, yet another one without any papers but does he at least have a lawyer? So sorry, Mr. Fofana, you know what they say, justice may be free but it’s not compulsory, ha ha ha
and on to dura lex sed lex
through the corridors of the law courts, and let’s just have a look at those impressive corridors because at the time they were Judenfrei, yes Judenfrei, free of Jews, free of Blums
and of course everyone had sworn an oath to Maréchal Pétain actually that’s not true: everyone except Judge Didier. I always forget poor Judge Didier, a legend. Now he was not a concierge, this Judge Didier, he said, No, no, I’m sorry, I won’t swear an oath, it’s beyond me
he was the only one
but it turns out, ladies and gentlemen, that he made a sacrifice of himself, it was symbolic apparently, there were plenty of others who put up resistance
there really were, really
let’s agree on that, can we?
Anyway, in the end everything has one
an end, I mean
and one fine day it all comes to a stop
the good win and the bad lose and that’s it, the war’s over and everything’s just like before, everything, really everything
look
lawyers are back pleading their cases in the law courts and the judges are back judging in the law courts too and they’re even judging Pétain, the old Maréchal, even him
true, he’s old but he still has to be judged to make the point, and who do they come up with to judge him? who do they come up with? nothing but magistrates who swore an oath to him five years earlier. Dear me, that’s not pretty, but then dura lex once again
and Pétain is condemned to death and then he’s granted a pardon
and what about the two police officers you ask. Well, the two police officers are still at the station and one of them, the shorter one, was even made a sergeant. Good morning, Sergeant, oh dear, doesn’t anyone salute anymore?
and the bus, that bus S, or SS in fact, it’s gone back to the depot and they’ve repaired the tire because it was giving off smoke, ha! smoke, ha! that’s right
and the concierge, she’s still on the stairs, yep
but now the Lamberts live on the fourth floor on the left. Yes, well, the apartment was empty, wasn’t it?
you have to understand the Lamberts have been living there since ’43, on the fourth floor
water and gas on every floor
yes, we know where they all are
the bus, the concierge, the police officers, but tell me, where are the Blums
where are they
Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind?
Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind?
Louise is almost screeching, her voice cracks and she stops talking but stays standing. There is absolute silence and the creak of chairs makes it all the more tangible.
Louise could step down from the rostrum. But it is not over yet. She comes right up to the microphone and starts to sing the Marlene Dietrich song her mother used to sing to her in German when she was a child, to get her to sleep, she sings very quietly with a very pure accent:
Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind
Where have all the flowers gone?
Wo sind sie geblieben?
Long time passing
Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind
Where have all the flowers gone?
Was ist gescheh’n?
Long time ago
Her voice is almost a whisper at first. But with every verse it grows and becomes louder, filling the dense air, bouncing off the vaulted ceiling. Louise sings on, with barely a quiver in her voice, so slight.
Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind
Where have all the flowers gone?
Mädchen pflückten sie geschwind
Gone to young girls every one
Wann wird man je versteh’n?
When will they ever learn?
Wann wird man je versteh’n?
When will they ever learn?