The Most Precious of Cargoes [La plus précieuse des marchandises]

It is World War II. An elderly woodcutter and his wife live deep in the Polish forest near a railway line. The wife thinks the train wagons are full of goods, but she is mistaken. The freight trains are loaded with people. In an act of desperation, a father wraps one of his twins in a prayer shawl and throws her from the train. The woodcutter’s wife finds the child and takes her in. Having no children of her own, the woman believes the little girl is a gift from God. However, the wife must care for the child alone because her husband hates Jews. The woman trades with her neighbor to acquire goat’s milk in exchange for the shawl and some wood. In time, the woodcutter grows fond of “the most precious of cargoes” and renounces his anti-Semitic beliefs. When members of the militia come looking for the child, the woodcutter kills them. His wife and the child take refuge with the neighbor. A few months later, the woman goes to the market to sell goat cheese; she takes the little girl with her. The child’s biological father is in the market and sees his child with the woodcutter’s wife. He survived the concentration camps working as a barber, but his wife and son, the little girl’s twin brother, are dead. Seeing his little girl happy and loved, the man decides not to reveal his identity and returns to France.

Format: Drama

Cast Size: 3 characters

Running Time: 65 minutes

Notes:

Support material:
Llobregat, José Luis Arráez. “La Plus Précieuse des marchandises. Un conte de Jean-Claude Grumberg: un faux vrai conte ou comment écrire un conte sur la Shoah à bon escient” Thélème. Revista Complutense de Estudios Franceses, vol. 36, no. 2, July. link.gale.com/apps/doc/A689557144/IFMEu=anon~d670362f&sid=googleScholar&xid=e23e0a4c

An animated film adaptation of “La plus précieuse des marchandises” directed Michel Hazanavicius, who co-wrote the screenplay with Grumberg, was selected in the main competition at the 77th Cannes Film Festival 2024. The film features the voices of Dominique Blanc, Grégory Gadebois, Denis Podalydès, and Jean-Louis Trintignant.

Original or Prominent Production:
Théâtre du Rond-Point, Paris, 22 September 2021, adapted and directed by Charles Tordjman. Artistic collaboration: Pauline Masson. Set design: Vincent Tordjman. Video creation and direction: Quentin Evrard, Thomas Lanza, Nicolas Mazet, Vincent Tordjman. Lighting design: Christian Pinaud. Sound design: Vicnet. Costume design: Cidalia da Costa. Stage manager (sound and video): Paolo Cafiero. Lighting manager: Felix Doullay. Video creation and direction: Quentin Evrard, Thomas Lanza, Nicolas Mazet, Vincent Tordjman.

Original Language: French

Publisher:

Paris, Univers Poche, 2019. Printed edition: Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 2019. English version: HarperVia, 2020.

Production Rights Holder:

Production Théâtre du Jeu de Paume, Aix-en-Provence
Coproduction Théâtre de Liège, Théâtre Nationale de Nice, Théâtre National de La Criée, Marseille, Théâtre du Rond-Point
Thanks to Nanterre-Amandiers, Centre dramatique national
With the support of Fondation pour la Mémoire de la Shoah

Experience(s) Chronicled: Concentration and Extermination Camps | Survivors and Subsequent Generations | The Ghettos