Louis-Ferdinand Céline, anti-Semite and provocateur – “LONG LIVE THE JEWS”

Louis Ferdinand Céline (1894.1961)

Autographed letter signed to his publisher Robert Denoël.

Unpublished letter. Two pages in-4°. No place or date. (November 10, 1938).

Slight imperfection in the upper margin, not affecting the text.

Important letter regarding the publication of The School for Corpses .

Céline, a provocateur, wants to see the advertising strips for the book produced according to his wishes.

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"The 10th. Happy publisher , don't forget the band. With little verses and dances for ensembles. That's all! No… and other typographical nonsense . All characters the same and simple. Please send me a letter repealing the infamous Article V of our first contract. I don't want to hear about those 3000 free copies anymore!"

I'm in the editing phase . Now, in 8 days – give or take 48 hours – Get the money ready – 60 – I'll call you – 48 hours in advance – Also, prepare a collection of

LONG LIVE THE JEWS! in strips – but not too wide – like this – white:

LONG LIVE THE JEWS!

Because of the glue that sticks to your throat – And then colors: For more details , read *The School for Corpses* by L.F. Céline . So much for all of this! LFC.

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" The School of Corpses ," the third of Céline's four anti-Semitic pamphlets, appeared on November 24, 1938, after a writing process that lasted barely five months, and which reveals all of Céline's most troubling anti-Semitic and anti-Masonic thoughts, as this extract from page 108 shows:

“I feel very close to Hitler , very close to all Germans; I think they are brothers, and they have every right to be racist. I think our real enemies are the Jews and the Freemasons. That the war is the war of the Jews and the Freemasons, that it is not ours at all. That it is a crime that we are forced to bear arms against people of our own race, who ask nothing of us, that it is just to please the robbers of the ghetto. That it is the lowest rung of depravity.”

Robert Denoël (1902-1945) was among the French publishers involved in collaboration. He opened his publishing house to German capital, obtaining a loan of two million francs from a German investor (Audermann) in exchange for 365 of the 725 shares in his company. He was assassinated after the Liberation on December 2, 1945, under mysterious circumstances.