Several authors described the September 1944 bombings that destroyed the city almost entirely.

Raymond Queneau (1903-1976) said how sad he was that his native city had been destroyed.

In his novel exclusively dedicated to the Saint-François area (Dust in the Wind), Émile Danoën (1920-1999) starts by expressing his pain at seeing the destruction of this old neighbourhood.

Several writers from Le Havre, including Bernard Esdras-Gosse (1903-1962), also wrote historical-cum-literary testimonies on Le Havre in 1944.

The sight of ruins induces to ponder over mankind, over History, but also, for Pascal Quignard (born 1948) over the meaning one should give to writing.

Table rase, by film director Christian Zarifian (1942-2010), is a detailed documentary on the destruction of the city.