When my father handed me our family archives a few years ago, i understood He had worked his whole life to collect information about my grandfather, captain Roger Pierre MERCIER, a military man and member of the Resistance in France .

As He was murdered at the Hartheim killing center on September 2nd, 1944, my father Claude was 5 years old and my aunt Michèle was 8 years old.

Although my family has never imposed their torment on me, I still felt the need to understand the absence of my father who was obsessed with his duty to complete his memoir. I must understand our uprooting and our traumas in order to accept my family’s legacy.

Then, I discovered the photographic archives and the letters that were patiently collected by my family which played a significant role in shaping our identity.

I feel the anguish that plagued my family for years due to the lack of information for so many years, the anguish when I imagine what could have been endured by my grandfather.

Therefore, I immerse myself in a historical context where times combine to create a bridge between generations. I examine the memories of places in order to confront collective memory with family memory.

This is the life story of my family presented visually, which frees me from the ghosts of the past.

My work is a tribute to our “part of humanity remained intact”.

All images ©Gilles Mercier