WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE FRANCE - news journal UPDATE - (en) France, Monde Libertaire - Pages of History No. 88: Anonymity and Death (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr) [machine translation]

 The author revisits a tragic incident: on July 30, 1947, a fire broke

out at the Tourelles prison. The Tourelles barracks, located on
Boulevard Mortier in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, were, in turn,
barracks built at the end of the 19th century, then an internment center
under the German occupation, before being converted into a prison and
then serving as headquarters for the French counterintelligence
services. The subject of the book lies elsewhere. In the summer of 1947,
a fire broke out in this barracks, which had become a prison, built as
an annex to the Petite Roquette. Twenty-two women died there. The author
has examined the criminal records of these anonymous prisoners.
Imprisoned in most cases for petty theft (theft, various frauds) or as
victims of the virile society of Vichy and the Liberation, some having
participated in clandestine abortions. They died in the fire that broke
out in one of the wings of the building. A controversy ensued over the
sanitary conditions, the unsanitary conditions of the prison system, and
the role of the military in preventing firefighters from intervening in
time. A trial took place. It resulted in a non-judgment; the prison
guards and the prison administration were not held responsible for the
tragedy; the subordinates were given suspended sentences; the main
defendant, having gone mad, was not convicted. A beautiful story about a
common tragedy of the prison system.

Twenty-two women of no importance.
The tragedy of the turrets July 30, 1947
Jean-Claude Demory
Éditions du Félin 2025 150 p. 20 €

https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=8366
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