Fate Of A Dissident Writer: Did The KGB Assassinate Albert Camus?
He Was An Outspoken Supporter Of The Hungarian Uprising Against The Soviet Empire, in 1956: "Hungary Conquered And In Chains Has Done More For Freedom and Justice Than Any People For 20 Years."
Guardian article on Catelli’s book here.
Camus said this, in an interview:
This quotation is part of a longer Camus quote about the Hungarian uprising, from this article.
I believe they killed him.
While I certainly would not put it past the KGB, it does seem to be a bit of a stretch. If Camus had planned to travel by train, why would the KGB tinker with the car? Supposing they had listening devices at Gallimard's Provence home, would they have had time after learning of the change in travel plans to tinker with the car? Or was Gallimard an accomplice who thought the plan would unfold differently? Typically, especially 75 years ago, publishers were very close to their writers and very protective. While I find, and always have found, Camus' death tragic, I am just not seeing the strength of this theory. It unwittingly relies on Vichy France and all the crypto Communist sympathies cultivated in that region in particular. Those threads are quite real, and deeply confusing to follow, especially within the French Resistance. Algeria is, in 1960, far more relevant, particularly with Camus.
Did the KGB foresee that Camus wouldn’t use the train he had already paid for?