Beyond the Mirror - English version of the French eBook L’Enfer du Miroir

The story of a French boy forced to fight for the enemy

On December 2nd, 1943, an explosive bullet tears away half of Nesti's face. He is 17 years old. A French citizen from Alsace, a region illegally annexed by Nazi Germany in 1940. Like 130,000 other young men from Alsace and Moselle, he was given no choice : fight for the enemy, or expose your family to deportation. Neither traitor nor volunteer, simply a man trapped between two nations at war.

What follows is a long journey through European hospitals, from Smolensk to the Baltic coast, and finally to Paris. Years of suffering, twelve surgeries without anesthesia, and the daily ordeal of other people's stares. And one question that never leaves him : can a disfigured man still hope to be loved ?

More than a war story

Beyond the Mirror is not just a historical account. It is the story of a man who, despite everything the war stole from him, found his way back to dignity and to love. A young woman of 21 falls for him, just as he is. Will she give him back the hope of a full life ?

Historical photographs to anchor the story in reality

This digital edition includes historical photographs that bring Nesti's world to life and place his story within the broader context of World War II. A documentary dimension that makes this fictionalized testimony even more powerful.

Format : PDF — Author : Jean-Pierre Gonzales — Instant download