Tereska Torres
Encyclopedia
Tereska Torrès is a French writer.
Born to the Jewish Polish sculptor Marek Szwarc
and his wife Guina she had to flee her native country in 1940 via Lisbon
to England
when France surrendered to Nazi Germany
after the Battle of France
while her father, serving in the Polish Armed Forces in the West
, was evacuated from La Rochelle by the British Home Fleet
.
When barely 18 years old Tereska enlisted in Charles de Gaulle
's Free French Forces
Volontaires Françaises Corps. She worked as a secretary in de Gaulle's headquarter in London. In October 1944 when she was five months pregnant, her first husband 20-year-old Georges Torres, stepson of pre-war French-Jewish Prime Minister Léon Blum
, was killed while fighting with the 2nd Free French Armoured Division in Lorraine
.
In 1947 she accompanied American novelist Meyer Levin
while he filmed the documentary Al Tafhidunu (The Illegals) about Jewish refugees
that fled Poland after the Holocaust and tried to reach Palestine. Her diary about her experiences on this illegal journey from Poland's destroyed cities through the displaced persons camp
s in Western Europe to Israel and her imprisonment there by British Forces were published so far only in German as Unerschrocken (Unafraid).
In 1948 Tereska married Meyer Levin in Paris, who urged her to publish the diary she wrote while serving in the Free French Forces. In 1950 Tereska published a fictional account of her wartime experiences under the title Women's Barracks in the United States of America, which "quickly became the first paperback original bestseller" selling over 2 million copies in its first five years, as it was the first pulp to candidly address lesbian relationships. In total 4 million copies of the book were sold in the United States and it was translated into 13 different languages. In 1952 Women's Barracks was selected as an example of how paperback books were promoting moral degeneracy, by the House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials
. When the book was republished by The Feminist Press
in New York in 2003 the book was acclaimed as having inspired a whole new genre of lesbian and feminist writing in the US.
Tereska did not allow Women's Barracks to be published in France. Instead her wartime diary was published as Une Française Libre.
In 1963, Tereska Torres accompanied Meyer Levin to Ethiopia, where he filmed "the fellashas" which was the first documentary about the life of Beta Israel
Jews in Ambover.
Tereska wrote some further 14 books, which were often translated by her husband into English. Her best known books are:
Her yet unpublished life diary notebooks are preserved by Boston University
.
She is one of a few surviving members of the "Volontaires françaises" - the women army Corp of the Free French Forces.
Born to the Jewish Polish sculptor Marek Szwarc
Marek Szwarc
Marek Szwarc was a painter and sculptor. He was born in Zgierz, Poland on May 9, 1892 and died in Paris, France on December 28, 1958.-Early years:From 1910 to 1914, Szwarc lived and studied art at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris...
and his wife Guina she had to flee her native country in 1940 via Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
when France surrendered to Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
after the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
while her father, serving in the Polish Armed Forces in the West
Polish Armed Forces in the West
Polish Armed Forces in the West refers to the Polish military formations formed to fight alongside the Western Allies against Nazi Germany and its allies...
, was evacuated from La Rochelle by the British Home Fleet
British Home Fleet
The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy which operated in the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967.-Pre–First World War:...
.
When barely 18 years old Tereska enlisted in Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
's Free French Forces
Free French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
Volontaires Françaises Corps. She worked as a secretary in de Gaulle's headquarter in London. In October 1944 when she was five months pregnant, her first husband 20-year-old Georges Torres, stepson of pre-war French-Jewish Prime Minister Léon Blum
Léon Blum
André Léon Blum was a French politician, usually identified with the moderate left, and three times the Prime Minister of France.-First political experiences:...
, was killed while fighting with the 2nd Free French Armoured Division in Lorraine
Lorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....
.
In 1947 she accompanied American novelist Meyer Levin
Meyer Levin
Meyer Levin was a Jewish-American novelist, known for works on the Leopold and Loeb case and the Anne Frank case.-Leopold and Loeb case:...
while he filmed the documentary Al Tafhidunu (The Illegals) about Jewish refugees
Berihah
Bricha was the underground organized effort that helped Jewish Holocaust survivors escape post-World War II Europe to the British Mandate for Palestine in violation of the White Paper of 1939...
that fled Poland after the Holocaust and tried to reach Palestine. Her diary about her experiences on this illegal journey from Poland's destroyed cities through the displaced persons camp
Displaced persons camp
A displaced persons camp or DP camp is a temporary facility for displaced persons coerced into forced migration. The term is mainly used for camps established after World War II in West Germany and in Austria, as well as in the United Kingdom, primarily for refugees from Eastern Europe and for the...
s in Western Europe to Israel and her imprisonment there by British Forces were published so far only in German as Unerschrocken (Unafraid).
In 1948 Tereska married Meyer Levin in Paris, who urged her to publish the diary she wrote while serving in the Free French Forces. In 1950 Tereska published a fictional account of her wartime experiences under the title Women's Barracks in the United States of America, which "quickly became the first paperback original bestseller" selling over 2 million copies in its first five years, as it was the first pulp to candidly address lesbian relationships. In total 4 million copies of the book were sold in the United States and it was translated into 13 different languages. In 1952 Women's Barracks was selected as an example of how paperback books were promoting moral degeneracy, by the House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials
House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials
The House Select Committee on Current Pornographic Materials, commonly known as the Gathings Committee, was a select committee of the United States House of Representatives active in 1952 and 1953. Representative Ezekiel C. Gathings, Democrat from Arkansas, was its chairman, appointed by Speaker...
. When the book was republished by The Feminist Press
The Feminist Press
The Feminist Press is an independent nonprofit literary publisher that promotes freedom of expression and social justice. It publishes exciting writing by women and men who share an activist spirit and a belief in choice and equality...
in New York in 2003 the book was acclaimed as having inspired a whole new genre of lesbian and feminist writing in the US.
Tereska did not allow Women's Barracks to be published in France. Instead her wartime diary was published as Une Française Libre.
In 1963, Tereska Torres accompanied Meyer Levin to Ethiopia, where he filmed "the fellashas" which was the first documentary about the life of Beta Israel
Beta Israel
Beta Israel Israel, Ge'ez: ቤተ እስራኤል - Bēta 'Isrā'ēl, modern Bēte 'Isrā'ēl, EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "Community of Israel" also known as Ethiopian Jews , are the names of Jewish communities which lived in the area of Aksumite and Ethiopian Empires , nowadays divided between Amhara and Tigray...
Jews in Ambover.
Tereska wrote some further 14 books, which were often translated by her husband into English. Her best known books are:
- Le sable et l'écume - 1945 by Gallimard. Her first novel started when she was 17 years old and finished during the war.
- Women's Barracks - 1950 by Fawcett'sFawcett PublicationsFawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota by Wilford Hamilton "Captain Billy" Fawcett . At the age of 16, Fawcett ran away from home to join the Army, and the Spanish-American War took him to the Philippines. Back in Minnesota, he became a...
Gold MedalGold Medal BooksGold Medal Books, launched by Fawcett Publications in 1950, is a U.S. book publisher known for introducing paperback originals, a publishing innovation at the time. Fawcett was also an independent newsstand distributor, and in 1949 the company negotiated a contract with New American Library to...
; the first Lesbian PulpLesbian pulp fictionLesbian pulp fiction refers to any mid-20th century paperback novel with overtly lesbian themes and content. Lesbian pulp fiction was published in the 1950s and 60s by many of the same paperback publishing houses that other genres of fiction including Westerns, Romances, and Detective Fiction...
novel - The Converts - 1970 by Knopf (New York); an account of her childhood and youth.
- Les poupées de cendre - 1972 by Le Seuil et Phebus; a novel set in Israel.
- Les maisons hantées de Meyer Levin" - 1974 by Editions Phebus (Paris); about her husband's 30-year long obsession with a play he wrote based on the Diary of Anne Frank
- Une Française Libre - 2000 by Phebus (London); a diary of her war years.
- Le Choix - 2002 by Edition Desclée de Brouwer (Paris); about her parent's secret conversion to Catholicism in 1919.
Her yet unpublished life diary notebooks are preserved by Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
.
She is one of a few surviving members of the "Volontaires françaises" - the women army Corp of the Free French Forces.