Page 29 - The Kellner Affair Sample Pages

THE KELLNER AFFAIR: MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH
When he could not account for the whereabouts of Jean Schoofs, he was arrested along with Aileen, Danièle and Zette Sleator. If this is the case, it then becomes likely that Figoni was in fact attempting to give warning. However, this does not alter the substance of the interrogation that took place or the circumstances of Figoni’s subsequent release. In any event, Zette was not in the Schoofs’ apartment, as she was in Madrid by then, and Danièle who was there, does not mention either of them.
In April 1978, the trade journal Carrosserie published a bizarre account alleging that Figoni was accused during his interrogation of having gone to Normandy to retrieve the radio transmitter that the Germans had found with Kellner. Joseph was then supposedly indicted for having taken it back with him to Paris. In this version, Joseph’s old racing colleague did not intervene on his behalf, but allowed him to make his escape from Gestapo headquarters. Straddling a bike he was lucky enough to steal on the sidewalk,
LEFT: Figoni was released due to this chance encounter and because he weighed his words carefully. He was freed to return to his wife and children. Here Joseph and Victorine Figoni in Dieppe, June 1932. (Archives Claude Figoni)
BELOW: Robert Étienne was arrested in rue du Théâtre at 5:00 p.m. on November 2, while Marius Roubille suffered the same fate in rue de Charenton on November 3. (Peter Larsen)
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