Tribute to Denise Bardet, teacher victim of the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre: this poignant book written by her nephew

“L’appui à la vie” is a poignant testimony presented with great emotion by Jean Bardet, the nephew of this woman who tragically died on June 10, 1944 at the age of 24. The book was produced from the schoolteacher’s youth notebooks. In agreement with his family, the biographer also donated his aunt’s writings and a dress to be preserved at the Centre de la Mémoire.

“These documents should be here for history.“, argues Denise Bardet’s nephew, during the presentation of his book, a tribute to his beloved aunt. A testimony born from a promise made to his father, Denise Bardet’s brother, now deceased.

Jean Bardet grew up in Veyrac. Today, the retired former literature teacher lives in the Paris region, but he wanted to contribute, beyond his work, to the transmission of the memory of the victims of the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre.

Although he never knew her, Jean Bardet admits to having a lot in common with his aunt, about whom his grandmother spoke to him a lot. Denise’s mother also called Jean “my little one” for a long time, he confides with a smile, as if his grandmother, inconsolable over the loss of her eldest daughter, was transferring it to her grandson.

At the center of the memory of Oradour-sur-Glane, a highly symbolic place, Jean Bardet, the nephew of one of the 643 victims of the martyr village, came to propose an enriched edition of the work first published by Lucien Souny before its bankruptcy. Jean Bardet therefore reworked the work before proposing it to the publishing house Words that carry. The new edition was released in June 2024.

Denise Bardet is the former schoolteacher of the martyred village, who disappeared on June 10, 1944, at the age of 24. Personal diary, correspondence, a sensitive story, of a strange modernity, whose presentation moved the audience, who came in large numbers that day.

“His analysis, finally, of the era, of the political and geopolitical situation of the time is very fine, and very profound. I believe that it is something that speaks to us today.“, explains Babeth Robert, director of the Oradour-sur-Glane memory center.

Fragments from family documents that reflect the perspective of a young woman who opens her eyes to the dangers of Nazism. Jean Bardet’s work speaks to an entire generation and especially to the audience present in the room that day: “Mom lost her brothers on June 10th, and Jean is our old neighbor!”remembers this former resident of Oradour.

“He lived in the same neighborhood as us, we played together! These are things that simply come back to mind. That’s why I said to myself, I’m going to take the book just to review all that“, confides another moved lady. She is accompanied by her sister.

This Tuesday, September 10, Jean Bardet also donated the original documents of his aunt’s notebooks to the memory center.I think it’s good that now people come, without my sensitivity, my share of emotion, etc. With a kind of scientific objectivity.” explains Jean Bardet in a gesture of generosity.

These objects will now be carefully preserved so that Denise Bardet’s voice is not forgotten. Her nephew’s wish is that this voice can resonate for several years after the tragedy of Oradour-Sur-Glane in June 1944.

Denise Bardet’s Youth Notebooks, explains his editor, “have met with a wide audience since their first publication in 2002.“Even more striking, they have been put into voice, sometimes dramatized, they have given rise to a certain number of varied and remarkable cultural creations, all across France. This impact illustrates how much Denise’s writings touch us, how much this young woman shines through her salutary humanism. Today more than ever, because Denise Bardet’s destiny resembles that of so many other women struck by wars or totalitarian regimes, her voice still resonates in a singular way. Almost a century later. I was keen to prolong its echo by publishing these Notebooks augmented by unpublished documents that cross several voices. In particular that of Etty Hillesum, a young woman who left behind an important literary work of which A life turned upside down, a vibrant diary (1943)”.

Life support was published on June 5, 2024 by Les mots qui portent.