Die Wächter des Abends

Every person wants to realize some ideas in their life. But fate changes them or stands in their way. Certainties fade. New mysterious puzzles emerge.

Since 1940, I have been confronted with all the light and shadow sides of human life.

Some wounds are still fresh and hurt as much as if salt were sprinkled into them. But other shadows and figures stand silent guard. I call them my "Guardians of the Evening." They help me to live.

In Vietnam, farmers always plant rice seedlings for the next harvest. Laurent Beccaria and I thought of those people when we wrote this book together. For these pages only make sense if other men and women find in them some seeds that they can replant elsewhere.

Hélie de Saint Marc experienced the great crises of France in the 20th century at first hand. After the invasion by German troops, he joined the Resistance.

In 1943, he was betrayed to the Gestapo and deported to Buchenwald, where he only narrowly escaped death.

As an officer in the Foreign Legion, he fought for thirteen years starting in 1948 in Indochina and Algeria, most recently at the head of the legendary 1st Parachute Regiment (1er REP) stationed in Zéralda (near Algiers). After his participation in the revolt of the four generals Challe, Jouhaud, Zeller, and Salan against de Gaulle's Algeria policy in 1961, he spent over five years in prison. In 1984, he was appointed Commandeur de la Légion d’honneur, and in 2011, he received the Grand-Croix de la Légion d’honneur.

He lived until his death on August 26, 2013, in Lyon and near La Garde Adhémar (Les Borias, Drôme provençale), where he is also buried.