In October 1942, Céline's antisemitic books "Bagatelles pour une massacre" and "L'école des cadavres" were republished in new editions, only months after the round-up of French Jews at the "Vélodrome d'Hiver". Céline devoted most of his time during the occupation years to his medical work and writing a new novel "Guignol's Band", a hallucinatory reworking of his experiences in London during World War I. The novel was published in March 1944 to poor sales.