The Order of the Day with author Éric Vuillard

French writer and filmmaker Éric Vuillard talks about The Order of the Day, winner of the 2017 Prix Goncourt and translated into English by Mark Polizzotti. This behind-the-scenes account of the manipulation, hubris, and greed that led to Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria dismantles the myth of an effortless victory. Although the newsreels captured a motorized army on the move, in reality the Panzers broke down en masse on the roads into Austria. Éric Vuillard’s meticulously researched account of the Anschluss ultimately reveals a patchwork of minor flourishes of strength, fevered telephone calls, and vulgar threats.

 

Co-sponsored by the the Jewish Community Library. Co-presented by the JFCS Holocaust Center, and the Consulate General of France in San Francisco.