GERDA TARO: TOO YOUNG FOR PERE LACHAISE CEMETERY.A FICTIONAL STORY OF THE SHORT LIFE OF GERDA TARO

During year 2013 I visited a local bookshop  weekly. I noticed that one special book was not sold. I could not resist the temptation of reading some pages of the book from time to time. When the book was not sold in January 2014, I bought the book. The content of the book should be of great to the local feminist groups? The title of the book is: ” Waiting for Robert Capa” written by Susana Fortes. The title in Norwegian  is: ” Vente på Robert Capa”.

The book is a fictionalized account of the life of Gerda Taro and Robert Capa. I had few information about the young Jewish girl who lived and worked with the famous Jewish war photographer Robert Capa in Spain where she died in an accident. Susana Fortes has written a very good book about the young girl who was born in Stuttgard in 1910. Her real name was Gerta Pohorylle.
Her family moved to Leipzig in 1929. She opposed the Nazi party. Due to her political actions as an active member of leftis groups, her Jewish family was forced to leave Nazi Germany towards different destinations. Gerta Pohorylle became a refugee in Paris, France. She did not see her family again. Gerta Pohorylle and the Hungarian photojournalist, Endre Friedmann, decided to work together. They changed their names. Gerta Pohorylle became Gerda Taro and Endre Friedmann took the new name, Robert Capa.  ” Waiting for Robert Capa” is a thrilling and interesting story about two young Jewish refugees who make an attempt to survive in Paris. They never married but the relationship between them was close. They worked hard , made love but both wanted to be independent. Robert Capa was a young boy who had a positive atttude to any girl who appoarched him. Some of his friends were of the opinion that  such a man is a notorious womanizer? When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, they went to Barcelona, Spain together with David ” Chim” Seymour, a close friend. War photos were taken. They became famous for the work done. Gerda was very active making photos of the war. She was close to the objects, too close. In Spain she met a lot of people who were dedicated to the fight against the Fascists: Ernest Hemingway, General Lukasc, Ted Allan, Andre Malraux, John Cornford, Gustav Regler, Paul Robson, Dr. Norman Bethune, Pablo Neruda, Joris Ibens , Martha Gellhorn and many more.

Because I did not know much about Gerda Taro, I asked the younger generation about her. Unknown to the late teenager of the age of fifty. Research about her was made by viewing movies dealing with the Spanish Civil War. I was surprised to see that even in a movie about the famous Canadian doctor Norman Bethune , she was not mentioned .Dr. Noman Bethune is having an affair with a Swedish journalist, Ingrid Hallstrøm. The movie about Norman Bethue was made in 1990. The title of the movie is: Bethune

. The story is written by Ted Allan who was working with Norman Bethune in Spain. Ted Allan who was a young Canadian, joined the International Brigade to fight the fascist armies in Spain. To my surprise he is not mentioned by name in the movie  even if he wrote the story himself! Gerda Taro and Ted Allan worked together. Ted Allan was her last lover. He was with her when she died. It was an accident. During her coverage of the fighting at the Battle of Brunete, Gerda Taro hopped onto the footward of a car which was carrying wounded soldiers from the Republican army. A tank collided with the car and both Ted Allan and Gerda Taro were wounded. Ted survived but Gerda died from her wounds. The tank had run over her. She died on July 26, 1937. The French Communist Party gave her a grand funeral in Paris. She is buried at Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

A portray of Robert Capa in action as a war photographer during the Spanish Civil War is made in the movie:”  Hemingway & Gellhorn ”. Gerda Taro is not mentioned at all in the film which was released in 2013. I don’t understand the decision of not making a story of her too?

Robert Capa and Ted Allan had an encounter in Paris after the funeral. Ted is still using crutches after the accident. The meeting is described in the book about Robert Capa: ” Robert Capa A Biography” written by Richard Whelan. I bought the German edition of the book during a short stay in the city of Kiel, Germany. The German title is:” Die Wahrheit is das beste Bild Robert Capa, Photograph. Eine Biographie ”. 1985.

” … Weisst du denn nicht,dass ich sie geliebt habe …”, Ted Allan fragte Robert Capa ….aber Capa entgegnete: ” ..Na und? Wie hattest du andres gekonnt? … Two men loved the same girl who they had lost.

The meeting was peacful. Robert Capa never married but he was a man who were approached by many ladies. The famous Swedish Actress, Ingrid Bergman, was one of many who wanted the man who never could forget Gerda Taro.

Susana Fortes has made a nice portray of the fascinating girl who died too young. I recommend the book to every feminist group around the world and to men too. What a girl! Ted Allan who was only 19 years of age when he became her lover, returned to Canada.  Ted had written some short stories . He wanted to become a writer, and he made it even if Ernest Hemingway disliked his work . But that is another story.

Photo of Ted Allan.

Read the book written by Susana Fortes about the young Gerda Taro who died too young and who was the only girl Robert Capa wanted to marry.

The French author Andre Malraux took active part in the war too. Books written by him and books about him, should be read today. Here is my private collection. Ernest Hemingway wrote also about the war.