The Diary

The discovery of her judgmental mother-in-law’s dramatic 1940s diary spurs a writer into a race against her husband’s illness. Reevaluating her relationship with the woman who spurned her, she pieces together an unknown chapter in their Jewish family history that includes hidden children, detention, and a bold escape from a little-known French internment camp for women.

Liberated from a long-shut suitcase during the Covid lockdown, the German-language diary of Regina Felsen-Torn chronicles her incarceration in Camp Rieucros, where authorities of France’s Third Republic held Jewish immigrants and women suspected of loose morals, dangerous political leanings, or both. Charged with espionage and deprived of due process, Felsen-Torn had been arrested, her ten-month old baby left in the care of family. Felsen-Torn’s vivid eyewitness diary is a unique survivor account of a little-known camp that became part of Vichy France's complex of internment facilities in compliance with Nazi authorities. Uncovering Rieucros is an enthralling read. Documenting the only camp exclusively for women out of nearly 200 in pre-war France, Regina’s account along with her daughter-in-law’s framing narrative brings a correction to the historical record and a renewed call for accountability. As the author's feelings thaw and transform upon encountering the younger Madame Torn, an unexpected bond develops across the circularity of time.

Complemented by twelve documentary watercolors by Helene Maywald, a German artist interned at the camp.