Read Andrée's War for Free Online Page B

into the main yard where they will be loaded onto vans. Many of my trusted officers will have packed up the files and brought the boxes up from the cellars. They will be very tired as they will have been working for almost forty-eight hours non-stop. At 6.00 a.m., the vans will be ready for loading. The officers assigned to the task are well aware of their duty. Your job, Mesdemoiselles, Messieurs, will be to make yourselves available should your assistance be needed and you will report immediately and directly back to me if there are any problems. I know the officers assigned to the operation well and they are all loyal, but it is possible that there are some people among my staff who would like the Germans to know where these foreigners live, especially the Jews. We will be moving the files as quickly as possible and I aim to have them all out by late morning. They will then be taken out through the yard onto the Quai du Marché Neuf and straight to the Quai des Orfèvres, where they will be loaded on to two waiting trawlers. The trawlers must leave at 2.00 p.m. at the latest.’
    Andrée quietly watched her colleagues’ reactions as Monsieur Langeronfinished speaking. She saw their sense of excitement mixed with apprehension as the importance of the task ahead began to sink in.
    â€˜Please return to your offices and carry out your work today as you normally would. The designated officers know exactly what they have to do. I want you to work in pairs and watch what is happening. If there are any problems, you are to report back to me immediately. Now, we all need to get on with today’s work. I will see you tomorrow at 5.30 a.m. in la Cour Vaubert.’
    Andrée walked back to her office and thought about the day ahead. She knew she would be busy updating the records of the many foreigners living in Paris who would be visiting her office, but she also wanted to make sure she knew exactly where the trawlers would be moored and decided to walk down to the Quai des Orfèvres during her lunch break.
    Whenever Andrée was upset or anxious, she found comfort in food and that day was no exception. The morning went by quickly and on hearing the clock chime twelve, she made her way to the Brasserie les Deux Palais, where she knew the owner and was confident she would have a good lunch. It was her treat to herself after a tiring morning. She chose a table at the back of the restaurant, sat down and looked at the menu. After ordering she looked around the restaurant, which had first opened around 1900 and still had many of the period’s original features: the colourful mosaic floor, the high mirrors covering all the walls and the long red leather bench with a series of small tables facing it. Andrée considered her fellow diners, many of whom were no doubt also aware that this might be their last good meal before the arrival of the Germans.
    She ate an egg mayonnaise to start with, followed by the plat du jour – osso buco (a rich, thick meat dish cooked in a tomato, onion and garlic sauce). While she ate, she thought about how difficult life would be over the weeks and months ahead. As a young nineteen-year-old, she was not totally in tune with Langeron’s political beliefs and activities, but she was determined to help him – not least because of her sister’s admiration for him. She drank her coffee and, having paid the bill, walked down to the Quai des Orfèvres. From the main road outside the Préfecture de Police, which lay along the Seine, a slip road went down to the river. Large cobblestones hadbeen laid along the road’s surface back in the nineteenth century and at the bottom of the road she noticed several iron rings on the quayside to which trawlers could be moored. Happy about the logistics and hearing the bells of Notre Dame chime two o’clock, she hurried back to the office. She felt confident the archives could be moved onto the trawlers, but organisational