War prevented return Library receives loaned books back after 81 years
In 1943, a student borrowed books from the Strasbourg University Library and was unable to return them due to the occupation of Alsace. After 81 years, the books have reappeared.
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- Marguerite Klein borrowed books as a 20-year-old student in Strasbourg and did not return them because of the occupation of Alsace.
- After her death, her granddaughter Anne Bauer gave the borrowed books to the university library.
- During the war, several locations of the library were destroyed and over 300,000 books were destroyed.
The Frenchwoman Marguerite Klein is said to have borrowed the five volumes on "The Real Joan of Arc" from the Strasbourg University Library as a 20-year-old student and never returned them, as reported by the AFP news agency.
Alsace was occupied by the Nazis at the time. They suppressed the French language and burned several French books.
Train was bombed on the way to Strasbourg
This was also the reason why the young student was unable to return the books she had borrowed. One day, as she was traveling from her village to Strasbourg, her train was bombed. She took the books back home with her, as her granddaughter Anne Bauer told AFP.
After the war, Klein moved to Strasbourg and taught English. According to her granddaughter, her grandmother did not think about the books at first. Later, she is said to have been afraid of being considered a thief and having to pay a heavy fine.
"Lady probably saved the books"
Shortly before her death, Klein is said to have told her granddaughter to return the books. Marguerite Klein died last December at the age of 100 and Bauer contacted the university library. She handed over the borrowed books after 81 years.
The library should be delighted because, as Alsatian historian Christoph Woehrlé told AFP, the woman may have saved the books. During the war, several library locations were destroyed and over 300,000 books were destroyed.
