Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Occupied Paris

by David King

THE GERMAN NIGHT HAS SWALLOWED UP THE COUNTRY.… FRANCE IS NOTHING BUT A SILENCE; SHE IS LOST SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT WITH ALL LIGHTS OUT. —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, letter to the New York Times Magazine, November 29, 1942

A French law, dating back to December 13, 1799 (22 Frimaire of the French Revolutionary Calendar), prohibited the police from barging in on citizens during the middle of the night unless there was a fire, flood, or an invitation from inside the residence. Article 76 of the Constitution of Year Eight, as it was known, had been written to stop the late-night arrests that occurred during the Reign of Terror.

Pont Neuf, the oldest bridge in Paris

ALL THINGS TRULY WICKED START FROM AN INNOCENCE. —Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

IF THE AMOUNT OF DOUGH EDITH DONATED FOR ALL THESE GOOD CAUSES IS ANY INDICATION, SMUGGLING PEOPLE ACROSS THE BORDER WAS A GREAT WAY TO MAKE A LIVING. —Simone Berteaut, on her sister Edith Piaf

A WORLD WHERE THERE IS NO MORE ROOM FOR HUMAN BEINGS, FOR JOY, FOR ACTIVE LEISURE, IS A WORLD WHICH MUST DIE. —Albert Camus

few sizes

THE FOREIGN PRESS DOES NOT APPEAR TO UNDERSTAND FRENCH JUSTICE. —Alex Ancel, Parisien Libéré, March 31, 1946

naufrageurs, or ship wreckers: Cruel men set lanterns on the cliffs to attract sailors in distress and make them believe that it was a port or harbor. The confident sailors, unable to conceive of such black deeds, crashed onto the reefs, losing their lives and property. Those who deceived them, by pretending to save them, then enriched themselves with the spoils. Petiot is just that: the false rescuer, the false refuge.

THE SECRET OF ALL GREAT FORTUNES … IS ALWAYS SOME FORGOTTEN CRIME—FORGOTTEN, MIND YOU, BECAUSE IT’S BEEN PROPERLY HANDLED. —Honoré de Balzac, Père Goriot