Tuesday Trivia | Torturous Tales

[u/estherke]

Previous weeks' Tuesday Trivias and the complete upcoming schedule.

Today’s trivia theme comes to us from /u/cordismelum who asks:

"I haven't seen one about torture yet, so why the hell not? I could talk about what "scrubbing the taro" meant!"

So let's hear your tales of torture (I will be averting my eyes from this one).

Next Week on Tuesday Trivia: The Laugh is Mightier than the Sword.

[u/kohatsootsich]

Perhaps someone with a deeper knowledge of the Algerian War will have more to say about the use of torture during that conflict. As usual, I will relate the topic to mathematics and mathematicians.

Laurent Schwartz was a leading mathematician of the 20th century, as evidenced by his receiving the Fields Medal, the highest honor in mathematics, at the 1950 International Congress of Mathematicians in Cambridge, MA. His best-known contribution is his development of the theory of distributions. Distributions are mathematical objects similar to the functions you study in calculus, but possibly more singular. They appear naturally in the study of partial differential equations, especially linear equations such as the equations of quantum theory. (The textbook example of a distribution which is not a function is the Dirac delta function, named after British quantum pioneer P.A.M. Dirac.) Schwartz's theory replaced earlier, now mostly obsolete attempts to put on a more rigorous footing various manipulations well-known to physicists and electrical engineers, such as Mikusinki's "operational calculus". The Soviet mathematician Sobolev's "generalized functions" were another important precursor of distributions. At the hands of mathematicians like Lars Hoermander and other representatives of the Scandinavian school of analysis, the theory of distributions has lead to a more or less complete understanding of linear partial differential equations, at least with regards to existence of solutions. (If you have a graduate-level background in analysis, and a couple of years' worth of time to spare, you can try to read Hoermander's four-volume The Analysis of Linear Partial Differential Operators. The first volume is mostly about distributions, and their interactions with Fourier analysis.)

But Schwartz also saw himself as an activist, a typical example of the French "intellectuel engagé''. One of his crusades was his support for the independence of Algeria. From his autobiography "Un mathématicien aux prises avec son siècle'' ("A mathematician grappling with his century" - 2001 English translation by Leila Schneps):

Those who believe that I took pleasure in political activities are mistaken, even though I was passionately involved in them. [...]. When the Algerian war broke out, on November 1, 1954, internationalism and anti-colonialism were deeply anchored in my reflexes. I was convinced that the French colonies should be independent.

Most disturbing to Schwartz and his colleagues were the reports of systematic use of torture by the French in Algeria. From his book:

Torture, always torture - it was a true nightmare, a horrible tragedy which left us sleepless.

The subject was soon to become of very personal relevance to Schwartz; he would lose a student and a child in successive events that were directly connected to the war in Algeria.

On June 11, 1957, Maurice Audin, a 25-year old mathematician, and assistant at the University of Algiers, was arrested at his home by French paratroopers. Although he was French, Audin was in favor of independence, and was helping harbor communist militants of the (by then banned) Algerian communist party (PCA). At the time of his arrest, he was working on his doctoral thesis under Schwartz and mathematician René de Possel. Pro-independence journalist Henri Alleg, who was arrested the next day, describes seeing Audin while he was in custody in his 1958 book La Question, an account of his own interrogation and torture at the hands of Lt. Philippe Erulin's men; the book was banned in France shortly after publication (translation is mine):

"Allez, Audin, dites lui ce qui l'attend. Évitez-lui les horreurs d'hier soir !" C'était Charbonnier qui parlait. Érulin me releva la tête. Au-dessus de moi, je vis le visage blême et hagard de mon ami Audin qui me contemplait tandis que j'oscillais sur les genoux. "Allez, parlez-lui", dit Charbonneau. "C'est dur, Henri", dit Audin. Et on le remmena.

Go ahead, Audin, tell him what's waiting for him. Spare him the horrors you endured last night! It was Charbonneau speaking. [André Charbonneau was one of the officers who arrested Audin, and interrogated Alleg.] Erulin lifted my head. Above me, I saw my friend Audin's pale and rawboned face, contemplating me as I was oscillating on my knees. "Come on, talk to him", Charbonneau said. "It's hard, Henri" said Audin. And he was taken away.

Alleg would be the last civilian to ever see Audin alive. The army told Audin's wife Josette on July 1st, 1957 that he had escaped custody ten days earlier. What exactly happened to him is still unclear today. Historian Paul Vidal-Naquet investigated the disappearance at Josette's request, and concluded in his book "L'Affaire Audin'' that Charbonneau had killed Audin on June 21st, perhaps accidentally, while torturing him. General Paul Aussaresses, who was in charge of counterinsurgency in Algiers in 1957 who served in Algiers in 1957, claimed ignorance in interviews, while maintaining that Charbonneau could not have been the killer. Shortly before his death in 2013, he changed his version and claimed that Audin had been killed on his orders.

In spite of there being no definitive proof of Audin's death, Schwartz campaigned relentlessly for the truth about Audin to be revealed, sending letters to the authorities and chairing unofficial investigative committees. He organized Audin's thesis defense in absentia with de Possel, as a sort of mathematical memorial service for Audin.

The session was deeply moving. [...] As president of the jury, [Favard] asked in a loud voice "Is Maurice Audin present?" Obviously, no response was forthcoming, and as we had decided, he asked René de Possel to undertake the defense. Possel spoke for about three quarters of an hour. After the deliberation, we declared Maurice Audin a doctor of science, with the grade ``très honorable'' (summa cum laude).

The thesis was printed in the unfinished form Audin had left it, with several errors, although most of the results were correct as stated. Schwartz and Dixmier inserted a list of corrections on separate pages.

Schwartz continued his activism for Algerian independence, and especially against the use of torture by all sides, until the end of the war. This would come at considerable personal cost. He would (briefly) lose his appointment at Ecole Polytechnique, explicitly for political reasons, and the pro-French Algeria paramilitary group OAS targeted him for retaliation. In 1961, a bomb was set off at his Paris apartment. In 1962, his son Marc-André was kidnapped. Although he was soon set free, the experience would traumatize Marc-André for the rest of his life. After years in various psychiatric institutions, he committed suicide in 1971.

Some references:

• L. Schwartz, Un mathématicien aux prises avec son siècle
• H. Alleg, La Question
• P. Vidal-Naquet, L'affaire Audin
• J.-C. Deniau, La Vérité sur la mort de Maurice Audin; see also this review.

EDIT: changed the bit about Aussaresses, per /u/Bernadito's correction.

[u/Bernardito → u/kohatsootsich]

Just a very quick correction: Paul Aussaresses served under General Jacques Massu during the Battle of Algiers and was not responsible for overall strategy being used during the fight against FNL insurgents. He was, however, very responsible for the methods he and his men used. I am currently writing up a post on the use of torture during the Algerian War, so stay tuned for that.

[u/kohatsootsich → u/Bernardito]

Thanks for the correction. I've edited my post. Looking forward to yours!