“Is she screaming already?” — How soldiers used the “electric method” on French women

“Is she screaming already?” That’s what I heard from the other side of the metal door. Two German voices. One laughed, the other simply nodded. I didn’t yet know what it meant, but my body was already trembling because something inside me, something primal, had already understood. My name is Thérèse Duvallon.

I’m 83 years old, and I’ve spent most of my life trying to erase this question from my mind. In vain. It’s back, Chacob. Every time I close my eyes and the silence becomes unbearable, I tell myself they didn’t take us to work. They didn’t take us for questioning. They took us to a place where young French women were separated, observed, and categorized.