Marceline Loridan-Ivens

Marceline Loridan-Ivens, born Marceline Rozenberg on March 19, 1928, in France, was a prominent writer and film director known for her poignant memoir, *But You Did Not Come Back*, which recounts her harrowing experiences in Auschwitz-Birkenau. She married the influential documentary filmmaker Joris Ivens.

The daughter of Polish Jewish immigrants who arrived in France in 1919, Marceline's family settled in Vaucluse at the onset of World War II. During the conflict, she actively joined the French Resistance. In April 1944, she and her father, Szlama, were apprehended by the Gestapo and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau on Convoy 71. They were later transferred to Bergen-Belsen and, ultimately, to Theresienstadt, where they were liberated by the Red Army on May 10, 1945.

Marceline initially married Francis Loridan, an engineer, but the couple later divorced, allowing her to retain his surname. In 1955, she became briefly involved with the French Communist Party before moving on to collaborate with progressive thinkers like Henri Lefebvre and Edgar Morin. Her film career took off in 1961 with her appearance in *Chronique d'un été*. In 1963, she wed Joris Ivens, contributing significantly to his projects, including *17th Parallel: Vietnam in War* (1968) and a series of 12 films during their time in China amidst the Cultural Revolution, leading to their swift departure due to political criticism.

Loridan-Ivens dedicated her later years to educating audiences about the Holocaust through lectures and testimonies in colleges and high schools. She passed away on September 18, 2018.