Comic column: Isabelle Maroger’s “Lebensboirn” | EUROtoday

Das hier ist entgegen dem Anschein kein Weihnachtscomic, auch wenn ein wichtiger Handlungsstrang zu Weihnachten stattfindet., im Jahr 2003. Da erfolgt ein Anruf in der Wohnung von Katherine Maroger im französischen Nîmes an. Eine deutsche Stimme sagt der damals Achtundfünfzigjährigen: „Kommen Sie, wann immer Sie wollen.“ Der Anrufer ist Katherines Vater, ein ehemaliger deutscher Soldat, der während des Zweiten Weltkriegs in Norwegen stationiert war und sich dort in eine einheimische junge Frau verliebte – und die in ihn. Zur geplanten Heirat kam es nicht, aber ein Kind zur Welt: Katherine, damals noch Annelies. Zur Welt gekommen in einem Heim der Nazi-Einrichtung „Lebensborn“. Das klingt nun wahrlich nicht mehr weihnachtlich, auch wenn ein Kind geboren wird.

“Lebensborn” can be the identify of the comedian that Isabelle Maroger, Katherine’s daughter, born in 1979, printed this yr (after her mom had already printed the story of her origins in 2008 below the title “Les racines du silence”) translate as “The Silence Roots”). But Isabelle Maroger would not simply repeat what her mom has already printed; she places her personal perspective on issues, as a result of it wasn’t till she was an adolescent that she even realized about her mom’s parentage. Suddenly the beloved grandmother was only a step-grandma who, along with her husband, had adopted the infant Annelies after the conflict and renamed her Katherine, and there have been in all probability nonetheless the actual grandparents someplace who had given the kid away. What the ensuing questions imply for a younger lady is a most important topic of “Lebensborn”.

Of course, the amount additionally tells the story of the ensuing contact with Katherine’s German father – her mom, it seems in some unspecified time in the future, died years in the past in Norway, by suicide (however that is solely mentioned on the very finish – and very rigorously). To recount this and, above all, the analysis that preceded it on the path of Katherine’s life path in all the small print would transcend the scope of this weblog, and why? There is the comedian.

However, regardless of its German title, it’s at the moment solely accessible in French, printed by Bayard graphic’. Gods solely know why this French-German (and Norwegian!) story hasn’t ended up with an area writer but. It’s in all probability as a consequence of Isabelle Maroger’s drawing model, which may be very beautiful, which is a plus in France given the good differentiation of the large comics market there (clear goal group: younger girls), whereas within the comparatively small German-speaking comics enterprise it isn’t thought-about appropriate for the plenty. But the standard of the story counts. At least she ought to.

And the depth of what’s instructed, and “Lebensborn” additionally has quite a bit to supply: this comedian is extremely emotional. This can even annoy some individuals, however how may the depth of feeling be completely different in the case of one’s personal origins? Especially since there are all the time inserts of a up to date historic nature that designate one thing in regards to the Lebensborn baby procreation program (if one can put it so flippantly), and on this regard the information – other than clichés of a human breeding facility – might be no higher on this nation than in France. Above all, the deal with Katherine tells the story of a Lebensborn baby somewhat than that of its mother and father. And this makes the person burden of the ostracized origins clear, from which the harmless victims endure, proper right down to the following stage.

Furthermore, so far as we all know, the story of Katherine’s mother and father was truly a love story. So the Lebensborn all of the sudden turns into a Nazi establishment that, with Annelies/Katherine, produced one thing great. All the extra disillusioning is the encounter between the true father and the misplaced daughter, which happens after the telephone name, in Düsseldorf, the place the now eighty-year-old German lives (along with his circle of relatives for a very long time, after all). What occurred so brilliantly in Norway throughout an earlier go to to the actual mom’s household not happens right here: an growth of the household on either side. But Isabelle Maroger would not assign blame. That’s probably the most wonderful factor about “Lebensborn”: the non-public heat with which what occurred is reported in a really matter-of-fact method.

The daughter devoted her comedian (the primary by Isabelle Maroger, who has been working as an illustrator for a very long time!) to her mom. It is rounded off by a small info part that gives some details that would not be included within the image story. I owe the truth that I learn the comedian to the eager eyes of my spouse, who noticed it on a decrease shelf in a big comedian guide retailer in Luxembourg, purchased it and, after studying it, strongly beneficial that I learn it myself. This weblog is subsequently devoted to her. It is on no account the primary entry that may not have existed with out her curiosity.