In, 1995 the French-German culture TV programm arte airedoa conversation between Jorge Semprun and Elie Wiesel named "Entretien entre Elie Wiesel et Jorge Semprun". The show's transcript has been published in German (as "Schweigen is unmöglich" – silence is impossible) and French, but not in English.
Jorge Semprun was born in 1923. Prior to being arrested by the German Gestapo he was involved in the restistance against the Spanis Franco-regime as well as in the French Résistance against the German occupiers. Following his arrest in 1943 he was deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp, where he was involved in camp-intern resistance groups that helped liberating the camp in 1945. He spent most of his life in France, returning to his home country after the demise of Franco, serving as culture minister from 1988 to 1991.
Elie Wiesel was born into a Romanian orthodox jewish family in 1928. In 1944 he was deported to Ausschwitz with his entire family. Later he was deported to Buchenwald Consentration Camp where he was held captive until the camp was liberated by American troops on April 11th 1945.
liberated the camp on the 11. April 1945.
After world war two he went to Strassbourg to learn french. After this he went to Paris to studied at
the Sorbonne. In 1955 he moved to the United States where he lives today. He is the author of a great number of books and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.
Semprun and Wiesel discuss similarities and differences of their expierence as prisoners in the German death camps. Both emphasize importance and difficulty of keeping and sharing the memories the horror they both have endured. Of course, a small book of a mere 40 pages can't serve with a wide or deep view on the matter. Instead it provides a very personal conversation between two men who have endured barbarism and have dedicated their lives to the strive to never let such barbarism happen again.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Kenzaburo Oe - Price Stock
Kenzaburo Oe's novella "Shiiku" (engl. "The Catch or "Price Stock") was published and earned him Japan's most prestigious literature price, Akutagawa. The story is placed near the end of World War two on Shikoku, the island in Japan's south east Oe grew up on.
The story is narrated by a boy living in a small and isolated rural village. He lives with his father and younger brother in a small room in the community barn. His father makes their living through hunting. Due to the school being closed the village's children live a life of liberty, mostly caring about their own business, seperate form the adult's dayly routine. The kids' life is organised in a own pecking order, marked by cruelty towards each other as well as by early sexual expierences.
Mostly, the war seems to be quite distand except for enemy planes flying through the sky. One day, however, a plane crashes near the village. The men left for the crash site and returned after several hours, bringing their catch – an African American soldier who is the only surivior of a crew of three.
This was by far the most exciting event ever to have happened to the children who fear the captured enemy might be shot. His color of skin is totally unfamiliar and they are unsure if he's man or an animal. This strentghens their wish for the man to live. The village residents decide to keep the American captured, jailing him in the barn's basement, keeping his feet tied by a catch bolt. The news is brought to the authorities in the next city and the villagers start to await orders.
Soon, the narrator is included in the daily routine, giving the prisoner food and emptying his chamber pot. First, the narrator's father guarded him with his gun pointed at the enemy but soon enough he stopped doing so. The boy meeting the prisoner alone made him rise in the other kids' eyes. Watching him through the basement window he becomes their hero. One day he brings his brother and friend. Now the kids think of the American rather as pet then an wild animal.
When the catch bolt breaks, the kids bring the village's collection of tools with which the prisoner repairs it. When the city clerk arrives, he breaks his leg prothesis which the american fixes as well.
This leads to a bette mood for everyone until the clerks receives order to bring the captured man to the city. The narrotar fears for the prisoner, trying to warn him. The Amercian however seizes the opportunity and gets ahold of the boy, dragging him into the basement and locking the door with the catch bolt.
After some time of discussing, the adults start to break the door open and finally the boy's father attacks and kills the American with his axe. Hereby the boy's arm is serverly injured. After sleeping through three nights and days the boy awakes. After the boy has talked to the clerk, the clerk dies in an accident. The boy realizes how much he has changed. A feels alienated from the adults who have risked his life to overcome the enemy. But after witnessing the death of two men he doesn't feel as child anymore as well.
The story is narrated by a boy living in a small and isolated rural village. He lives with his father and younger brother in a small room in the community barn. His father makes their living through hunting. Due to the school being closed the village's children live a life of liberty, mostly caring about their own business, seperate form the adult's dayly routine. The kids' life is organised in a own pecking order, marked by cruelty towards each other as well as by early sexual expierences.
Mostly, the war seems to be quite distand except for enemy planes flying through the sky. One day, however, a plane crashes near the village. The men left for the crash site and returned after several hours, bringing their catch – an African American soldier who is the only surivior of a crew of three.This was by far the most exciting event ever to have happened to the children who fear the captured enemy might be shot. His color of skin is totally unfamiliar and they are unsure if he's man or an animal. This strentghens their wish for the man to live. The village residents decide to keep the American captured, jailing him in the barn's basement, keeping his feet tied by a catch bolt. The news is brought to the authorities in the next city and the villagers start to await orders.
Soon, the narrator is included in the daily routine, giving the prisoner food and emptying his chamber pot. First, the narrator's father guarded him with his gun pointed at the enemy but soon enough he stopped doing so. The boy meeting the prisoner alone made him rise in the other kids' eyes. Watching him through the basement window he becomes their hero. One day he brings his brother and friend. Now the kids think of the American rather as pet then an wild animal.
When the catch bolt breaks, the kids bring the village's collection of tools with which the prisoner repairs it. When the city clerk arrives, he breaks his leg prothesis which the american fixes as well.
This leads to a bette mood for everyone until the clerks receives order to bring the captured man to the city. The narrotar fears for the prisoner, trying to warn him. The Amercian however seizes the opportunity and gets ahold of the boy, dragging him into the basement and locking the door with the catch bolt.
After some time of discussing, the adults start to break the door open and finally the boy's father attacks and kills the American with his axe. Hereby the boy's arm is serverly injured. After sleeping through three nights and days the boy awakes. After the boy has talked to the clerk, the clerk dies in an accident. The boy realizes how much he has changed. A feels alienated from the adults who have risked his life to overcome the enemy. But after witnessing the death of two men he doesn't feel as child anymore as well.
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