The war in Ukraine “brings back painful memories”, Sylvie Vartan confides

She could not remain impassive, she who experienced the exodus. Sylvie Vartan confided in the columns of “Parisian this Thursday to promote the release of his mini-album of five titles, “Odessa”, the profits of which will be entirely donated to the Ukrainian people, invaded since February 24 by Russia. The idea came to him when he saw on television “the horrible images of the Ukrainian people living daily under the bombs, the torrents of tears of the women, the pallor of the children, the columns of people fleeing the war”.

It must be said that as a child, the 77-year-old artist had to flee Bulgaria and its totalitarian regime. “It resonated violently within me, bringing back painful memories. […] I was eight years old, but I remember those horrible times with incredible vividness. My parents, my brother and I leaving Sofia by train and leaving those we loved on the platform”, told the singer to the daily newspaper, which continues: “Leaning through the car window and saying goodbye to my grandfather , who was running after the train with her handkerchief in her hand, out of breath… The pain that this gave me is forever inscribed in me”.

Based in the United States, Sylvie Vartan now takes care of a Ukrainian couple and their daughter. “I have the impression of seeing myself again arriving in France. It tears me apart. But the help that I can bring calms my pain a little ”, can we read. The album will be released this Friday on digital and on May 27 on CD. It contains four of the singer’s classics and a live cover of John Lennon’s mythical title, “Imagine”.