Asche und Glut. Erinnerungen. Résistance und KZ Buchenwald – Fallschirmjäger der Fremdenlegion – Indochina- und Algerienkrieg – Putsch gegen de Gaulle

Quietly, reflectively, without pathos and with uncompromising honesty, Hélie de Saint Marc outlines the stages of his life, in which the crises and upheavals of French society in the 20th century are reflected.

RESISTANCE - BUCHENWALD - FOREIGN LEGION

In 1940, at the age of eighteen, Saint Marc joined the Resistance. In 1943, he was betrayed, arrested by the Gestapo, and deported to Buchenwald. He survived as if by a miracle. As a graduate of the Saint-Cyr-Coëtquidan military academy, he began his career as an officer in the Foreign Legion.

INDOCHINA AND ALGERIAN WAR

From 1948, Saint Marc fought in Indochina against the communist Viet Minh. After the disaster of Dien Bien Phu, he was deployed to Algeria in 1954 to serve against the National Liberation Front (FLN). Under General Challe, the French army subdued the FLN in 1959.

COUP AGAINST DE GAULLE AND PRISON

When De Gaulle nevertheless wanted to give up Algeria, accepting a human and political fiasco, a coup by the four generals Challe, Jouhaud, Zeller, and Salan took place in Algiers in April 1961. Saint Marc participated at the head of the legendary 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment (1er REP). Since the other generals held back, the coup plotters surrendered. Saint Marc turned himself in and spent over five years in prison.

Hélie de Saint Marc, Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor (2011), lived until his death on August 26, 2013, in Lyon and on a small estate near La Garde-Adhémar (Drôme provençale).

These memoirs, published by Perrin under the title "Les Champs de braises", became a bestseller in France. They were awarded several times, including the "Prix Femina" in 1996.