They Shall Not Have Me: The Capture, Forced Labor, and Escape of a French Prisoner in World War II
(Paperback)
Available Formats
Publishing Details
They Shall Not Have Me: The Capture, Forced Labor, and Escape of a French Prisoner in World War II
By (Author) Jean Hlion
Introduction by Deborah Rosenthal
Afterword by Jacqueline Helion
Skyhorse Publishing
Arcade Publishing
3rd June 2014
United States
Classifications
General
Non Fiction
Second World War
Modern warfare
940.547243092
Physical Properties
Paperback
464
Width 140mm, Height 210mm, Spine 33mm
469g
Description
The French painter Jean Hlions unique and deeply moving account of his experiences in Nazi prisoner-of-war camps prefigures the even darker stories that would emerge from the concentration camps. This serious adventure tale begins with Hlions infantry platoon fleeing from the German army and warplanes as they advanced through France in the early days of the war. The soldiers chant as they march and run, They shall not have me! but are quickly captured and sent to hard labor.
Writing in English in 1943, after his risky escape to freedom in the United States, Hlion vividly depicts the sights, sounds, and smells of the camps, and shrewdly sizes up both captors and captured. In the deep humanity, humor, and unsentimental intelligence of his observations, we can recognize the artist whose long career included friendships with the likes of Mondrian, Giacometti, and Balthus, and an important role in shaping modern art movements. Hlions picture of almost two years without his art is a self-portrait of the artist as a man.
Reviews
"A meticulously observed description of the lives of French POWs as virtual slaves of the Third Reich, with vivid delineations of both captors and captives." --The Wall Street Journal
"A meticulously observed description of the lives of French POWs as virtual slaves of the Third Reich, with vivid delineations of both captors and captives." --The Wall Street Journal
Author Bio
Jean Hlion was a noted French modernist painter and author. He was a member of the Free French Forces during World War II. His work later influenced Roy Lichtenstein, Nell Blaine, and Leland Bell. He died in 1987.
Deborah M. Rosenthal, consulting editor for the Artists & Art series, is a New York painter and writer. She is a professor of art in the School of Fine and Performing Arts at Rider University.
Jacqueline Hlion, the widow of the painter, lives in Paris.
