BEYOND THE DARKNESS: CRIMES FROM ANOTHER ERA
with English translation by Mike Jempson from Alice Mavian’s French translation of the original Armenian
London: Gomidas Institute, 2026,
xx + 166 pp, maps, illustrations
ISBN 978-1-909382-90-9, paperback,
Price: UK£20.00 / US$26.00
To order please contact books@gomidas.org
A survivor of the Armenian Genocide and the Nazi concentration camps, Mihran Mavian bears witness to some of the darkest chapters of the twentieth century. A French-Armenian communist and resistance fighter, he worked as a liaison agent for the Workers International Movement against Nazi occupation in Paris before his arrest by the Gestapo in 1944. Tortured and starved, as he was transported from Fresnes prison to Compiègne-Royallieu, Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Flossenbürg extermination camps, Mavian survived against all odds.
CONTENTS
Foreword vii
Original Introduction to the French Translation: Alice Mavian ix
Multiple Responsibilities: Mike Jempson xiii
Acknowledgements xvii
CHAPTERS
1. WARTIME 1
Armenian Resistance in France 7
Paris Under Occupation 10
2. THE FRESNES ROUND UP 13
In the Claws of the Gestapo 15
Fresnes Prison 17
The Gestapo’s Lair 19
The Return to Fresnes 25
3. TO CAMPIÈGNE 29
The Compiègne Camp 30
4. TO AUSCHWITZ 39
5. BUCHENWALD AND DISCOVERING FLOSSENBÜRG 49
Flossenbürg 51
6. THE WHY AND THE HOW 65
Life in Flossenbürg 69
The Cores of Resistance 71
7. BLOCK 5 79
Life in Block 5 84
8. FLOSSENBÜRG: THE EXTERMINATION 93
The Gallows 99
9. THE HYENA’S END 107
10. FREEDOM AT LAST! 115
Face to Face with the Criminals of Flossenbürg 116
July 1946 118
Back to Flossenbürg 120
BEYOND THE DARKNESS
vi
PANELS
1. Mihran (Michel) Mavian 123
2. Compiègne Camp 124
3. Flossenbürg Camp 125
4. Noël Cohard 126
5. Suzanne Goujon 127
6. Little Lake (Ldjak by Bedros Tourian) 128
7. The Red Poster 130
ENDNOTES 132
ILLUSTRATIONS
Mihran Mavian after his return in 1945 iv
Mihran Mavian’s book, Vojiri Antrashkharhen, Yerevan (1976) x
Alice Mavian with her father’s book (in French) xi
Map of Nazi Germany and Mavian’s movements (1944-45) xii
Mihran Mavian at work 4
Missak Manouchian 8
The infamous Red Poster (Affiche Rouge) in Nazi occupied Paris 14
Armenia Aid Committee, HOG, in 1933 16
Detainees escorted to the Compiègne camp at Royallieu 30
Compiègne camp from a guard tower 32
Note: Mihran to Beatrice, 27 April, 1944 35
Flossenbürg concentration camp entrance 53
Flossenbürg concentration camp, 1944 55
Flossenbürg concentration camp quarry 67
Map of Flossenbürg concentration camp 80
Flossenbürg concentration camp barrack 87
Flossenbürg concentration camp fence 94
Flossenbürg concentration camp crematorium 96
Aftermath: Flossenbürg, Prisoners’ footwear... 1945 102
"Lass” Louisa Aslanian 105
The Pyramid of Ashes in the Valley of Death 119
Mihran Mavian (left) revisits Flossenbürg with a fellow survivor 121
Mavian engaged promoting Armenian links with France, 1950s 122
Mihran Mavian with this children Alice & Gerard, Paris 1945 122
Suzanne Goujon 127