Edgar Hilsenrath
Encyclopedia
Edgar Hilsenrath is a German-Jewish writer living in Berlin
. His main works are Night, The Nazi and the Barber
, and The Story of the Last Thought
.
. In 1938 his mother escaped with her two children to Siret
(Sereth), in Romania
n Bukovina
, where they enjoyed a respite from persecution. At the time that he should have received an entrance card to higher education, he and his mother were interned in the ghetto
of Cernăuţi
(Czernowitz).
He began to write about the Holocaust after his liberation when he moved to Paris
. Hilsenrath also lived in Palestine, Israel
, and New York
.
According to Dagmar C. G. Lorenz
, Simon Wiesenthal Center
, "Hilsenrath calls things by their proper names and portrays life first and foremost as physical existence, of whose details the reader is constantly made aware: birth, nursing, feeding, sex, and excretion accompanied by feelings of pleasure and pain. The rhetoric of politicians and political theory are shown to be the schemes of beings ultimately dependent on these bodily processes and subject to physical desires. Hilsenrath's very approach is a protest against disrespect toward the mortal body, against the tyranny of the mind over matter."
. In the grotesque novel The Nazi and the Barber
, published in 1971 in the U.S., a German SS mass murderer, who later assumes a Jewish identity and escapes to Israel, reports about the cruelties committed by him.
on the Armenian Genocide
, Hilsenrath received the State Award in Literature of the Republic of Armenia from its president
.
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. His main works are Night, The Nazi and the Barber
The Nazi and the Barber
The Nazi and the Barber of the German-Jewish writer Edgar Hilsenrath is a grotesque novel about the Holocaust during the time of National Socialism in Germany...
, and The Story of the Last Thought
The Story of the Last Thought
The novel The Story of the Last Thought of the German-Jewish writer Edgar Hilsenrath is about the Armenian Genocide in 1915. The epic which has the form of a fairy tale and for which Hilsenrath received many prizes is regarded as the most important book about this historical episode...
.
Biography
Hilsenrath was born in LeipzigLeipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. In 1938 his mother escaped with her two children to Siret
Siret
Siret is a town in Romania, Suceava County, one of the oldest towns in, and a former capital of, the former principality of Moldavia. It is located 2 km from the border with Ukraine, being one of the main border passing points in the North of the country, having both a road border post and a...
(Sereth), in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
, where they enjoyed a respite from persecution. At the time that he should have received an entrance card to higher education, he and his mother were interned in the ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
of Cernăuţi
Chernivtsi
Chernivtsi is the administrative center of Chernivtsi Oblast in southwestern Ukraine. The city is situated on the upper course of the River Prut, a tributary of the Danube, in the northern part of the historic region of Bukovina, which is currently divided between Romania and Ukraine...
(Czernowitz).
He began to write about the Holocaust after his liberation when he moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. Hilsenrath also lived in Palestine, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
According to Dagmar C. G. Lorenz
Dagmar C. G. Lorenz
Dagmar C. G. Lorenz is Professor of Germanic Studies and Director of Jewish Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She teaches and publishes on Austrian, German and German-Jewish literature and culture, and Holocaust Studies. She was born in Goslar, West Germany and began her studies at...
, Simon Wiesenthal Center
Simon Wiesenthal Center
The Simon Wiesenthal Center , with headquarters in Los Angeles, California, was established in 1977 and named for Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi hunter. According to its mission statement, it is "an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to repairing the world one step at a time...
, "Hilsenrath calls things by their proper names and portrays life first and foremost as physical existence, of whose details the reader is constantly made aware: birth, nursing, feeding, sex, and excretion accompanied by feelings of pleasure and pain. The rhetoric of politicians and political theory are shown to be the schemes of beings ultimately dependent on these bodily processes and subject to physical desires. Hilsenrath's very approach is a protest against disrespect toward the mortal body, against the tyranny of the mind over matter."
Works
Night describes life and survival in a Jewish ghetto in the UkraineUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. In the grotesque novel The Nazi and the Barber
The Nazi and the Barber
The Nazi and the Barber of the German-Jewish writer Edgar Hilsenrath is a grotesque novel about the Holocaust during the time of National Socialism in Germany...
, published in 1971 in the U.S., a German SS mass murderer, who later assumes a Jewish identity and escapes to Israel, reports about the cruelties committed by him.
Awards
Hilsenrath has received many prizes for his works. For his novel The Story of the Last ThoughtThe Story of the Last Thought
The novel The Story of the Last Thought of the German-Jewish writer Edgar Hilsenrath is about the Armenian Genocide in 1915. The epic which has the form of a fairy tale and for which Hilsenrath received many prizes is regarded as the most important book about this historical episode...
on the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
, Hilsenrath received the State Award in Literature of the Republic of Armenia from its president
President of Armenia
President of Armenia is the title of the head of state of Armenia since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.-Democratic Republic of Armenia :*Avetis Aharonyan *Avetik Sahakyan *Avetis Aharonyan -Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and Armenian...
.
Homepage
- Edgar Hilsenrath's homepage (German)
Biographies
- Biography of the Literary Agency Dr. Ray-Güde Mertin with book presentations and comments.
- Biography at exil-archiv.de
Articles
- Bestselling German-Jewish Author Satirizes the Holocaust, Deutsche Welle, April 9, 2006
- Armenian article with photograph of Edgar Hilsenrath receiving the State Award in Literature of the Republic of Armenia from the president, Robert Kocharyan