L'Étoile de Kléber
The L'Étoile de Kléber was a well-known brothel in Paris, which gained particular fame because it most stubbornly opposed the brothel ban imposed by Marthe Richard in 1946 and continued to operate in secret.
The Étoile de Kleber was located at 4 rue Paul-Valéry and was founded and managed by a certain Aline Soccodato , called Madame Billy .
The operator
Soccodato was born as Aline Roblot in Morey-Saint-Denis in 1901 . Having become an orphan at an early age, she did not get any more education as a primary school, so she first worked on a farm before, after a not really fulfilling short love relationship, she started in Dole as a saleswoman in the Nouvelles Galeries in 1921 . She went to Paris, hoping to earn more as a prostitute, and there she met the American billionaire and lesbian Grace Palmier , who introduced her to the upper classes and a life of luxury. Grace called Aline, alluding to the poems of Pierre Louÿs , Bilitis , the diminutive Billy remained her nickname.
The brothels
Roblot met the singer Soccodato, who appeared under the name Josselin in L'Éuropéen and in the Casino de Paris , lived with him for two years in a wild marriage and married him before the mayor of the 16th arrondissement . Aline, who had continued to work in hour hotels with her partner's knowledge, had plans of her own for her own brothel. In 1938 she opened her first house at 47 Rue Cardinet, was called Madame Billy and soon became very popular. Personalities from the highest circles quickly came in and out of her:
“A former State Councilor played“ Demoiselle ”for her, put on garters and rustling panties and joked with the lodgings made for“ children ”. She also received a visit from a former Spanish ambassador who was so fat you could take him off on his belt had to pull up the armchair if he wanted to get up. "
In 1941 her husband was engaged in the "ABC" and had even less time for Aline, so she decided to open a second house in the Rue viellejust (which was later renamed Rue Paul-Valéry ) out of boredom . The new brothel should be one of the top class, Aline paid 150,000 francs for the takeover and got a four-story villa with ten rooms, which she furnished with selected furniture. The garden , a lounge with armchairs in the style of Louis XVI, was considered particularly beautiful . that was overloaded with potted plants. She also made sure that the women who were employed by her were of the highest possible standard.
"The blond, seductive Madame Billy knitted behind the bar and watched over her group of young, pretty, distinguished girls, some of whom even came from good families."
In the autumn of 1941, Henri Coutet , lyricist Édith Piafs , asked the couple with whom he was friends to rent rooms on the upper floor to the singer. So Piaf moved into the brothel for some time with her half-sister Momone, her lover and her musicians.
"Piaf: It's expensive with mother Billy, but at least you eat well."
“At lunchtime she usually only ate a steak that was covered with a lot of garlic. In the evenings after the performance, she regularly celebrated parties. She invited friends regularly, often more than fifteen. Jean Cocteau, who had written Le Bel Indifférent for her, liked to visit her, read his poems aloud in Madame Billy's parlor, advised her what to read and even gave her moral sermons. […] The guest list one evening: Marie Marquet , Raimu , Mistinguett , Maurice Chevalier , Marie Bell , Madeleine Robinson and Michel Simon , who picked up a girl on the pavement of Rue Saint-Denis and passed her off as his secretary. "
Closed parties were also held in the salon. In 1942, for example, a Dutch shipowner invited six friends to a very special dinner: seven large platters were to be served, each with a naked girl sitting in the middle of the food to be served. Maxim's waiters had taken over the service and served the platters, on each of which a girl was surrounded by caviar , sole , cheese , fine pastries, etc.
In May 1943, Édith Piaf discovered nine young men and introduced them to her friend, the group called Compagnon de la Chanson would later become very famous in France. In December 1943 she finally moved out of the brothel.
The second World War
It was inevitable that the first customers were officers of the German Wehrmacht and the French Gestapo , whose headquarters were only a short distance away at 93 rue Lauriston , but that was an advantage, as they always had the option thanks to the customers had to get meat, caviar and champagne.
After the war, the clientele changed, and more Allied officers came to L'Étoile de Kléber . During the Second World War, the Soccodatos hid the English military and forwarded encrypted messages to the Resistance . They let their contacts play and were lucky enough to be able to continue their operations after the 1946 closure law and to gain influence.
“In my salon […] writers, journalists, people from film and chanson, representatives of parliament, the Senate and the government met each other. Members of parliament and senators made up a large proportion of my clientele. Almost all members of the numerous governments under President Vincent Auriol and René Coty visited my house. "
literature
- Alphonse Boudard and Romi: The Golden Age of the Brothel . Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, Munich 1992 (Collection Rolf Heyne), ISBN 3-453-05181-5