One Hundred Twenty-One Days by Michèle Audin, Christiana Hills Page A

it
26,      the canto number in the Inferno in which the sea closes over Ulysses and his companions
27      German physicists were winners of the Nobel Prize of Physics
28      is a perfect number
29      days had the month of February in 1916
31      years old, André’s age when he died in Mariahilf
39,      the number of survivors from the convoy in which Silberberg was taken
40      prisoners were held in each cell of the Cherche-Midi prison
41,      the largest dimension for which Kürz managed to demonstrate Silberberg’s lemma
42.8    meters cubed of rubble per person after the bombing of Dresden
48      hours that André and Sonntag marched side by side
50      meters, the circumference of the cylinder Beckett describes in The Lost Ones
60,      the number of the convoy that took André to Upper Silesia
65,      the smallest integer whose square can be written in two ways as the sum of two squares
67      kilometers, the length of what became known as the Auschwitz death march
70      kilos, the weight of the bags of phenyl-beta that Klein had to carry while he was at the camp
80      victories (at least) had been achieved by Guynemer
103     years old, M.’s age when he died
120     pages of M.’s dissertation were recopied by Marguerite
121     days of happiness for André and Mireille
131     cities were attacked by the Royal Air Force
209,    the number of the hospital where Gorenstein’s aunt worked as a nurse
250     years old was the University of N. in 1937
340     men in Convoy 60 were sent to Monowitz
400     individual detached houses could have been constructed for the cost of one insane asylum
475,    the number of Mozart’s Fantasia in the Köchel catalog
479     is a prime number and one quarter of 1916
491     men and women from Convoy 60 were taken by SS officers and dogs and immediately gassed
600     barricades were erected during the Parisian uprising
800     meters, the track event in which André was university champion
1000,   the number of Jews in the convoys
1796,   the year Bonaparte made his entry into Milan at the head of his young army
1800    meters, the total length of the cylinders in which the V-2 rockets were constructed at Dora
1801,   the year Beethoven composed his fourteenth sonata Quasi una fantasia
1821,   the date Heinrich Heine evoked the books burned during the Reconquista
1858,   the opening of the Kaffeehaus & Konditorei Korb & Schlag in N.
1926,   the year Vito Volterra invented a model for predator-prey systems
1933,   the date the books of Heinrich Heine were joyously burned in public squares
1949,   Gorenstein’s death
1950,   the lovely summer evenings were started again in N.
2066,   the year M.’s writings will enter the public domain
8000   meters high, they say, was the height the smoke reached after the bombing of Hamburg
14521.8  square kilometers of Germany were allocated to France by the Versailler Diktat
116800  Reichsmarks would have been the cost of a mentally ill patient if he had been looked after for forty years
157034,  the number tattooed on a survivor’s arm and jotted down on a page from a blue notebook

CHAPTER X
    The Binder
    ( NOTES 2006–2010)
    From a blue notebook, torn pages: notes from another visit to N., notes on Kürz and M. from the information given and the archives lent by Pierre Meyer, with various documents attached… all rearranged in chronological order and divided into eighteen pouches in a red binder.
    POUCH 1
    NOTES ON PIERRE MEYER
    Met for the first time in September 2006. Born January 13, 1915. M.’s son-in-law and Silberberg’s friend. A great eyewitness. Several interviews recorded in November and December 2006.
    Summary: born and raised in Strasbourg, studied mathematics, worked at the library before the war. Friend of