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Gonda Redlich (1916–1944)

Auteur de The Terezin Diary of Gonda Redlich

2 oeuvres 23 utilisateurs 2 critiques 1 Favoris

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(yid) VIAF:49466386

Œuvres de Gonda Redlich

Étiqueté

Partage des connaissances

Nom canonique
Redlich, Gonda
Nom légal
Redlich, Egon
Date de naissance
1916-10-18
Date de décès
1944-10
Sexe
male
Nationalité
Czechoslovakia
Lieu de naissance
Olomouc, Czechoslovakia
Lieu du décès
Auschwitz, Poland
Lieux de résidence
Prague, Czechoslovakia
Études
Charles University, Prague
Professions
diarist
Courte biographie
Egon "Gonda" Redlich was born in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia, the youngest of five children in a Jewish family. As a young man, he became active in the Zionist movement. He wrote articles, gave lectures, and organized cultural evenings. After Nazi Germany annexed his homeland, he had to leave his law studies at the Charles University in Prague, but carried on his Zionist activities for Hechalutz. In the fall of 1939, he managed to organize, together with a Danish charity organization, an operation that sent 80 Czechoslovak children abroad to safety. In December 1941, at age 25, he was deported to the Nazi ghetto and concentration camp at Terezin (Theresienstadt), where the elders made him the head of the youth welfare department, which was in charge of thousands of children ranging in age from newborns to teenagers. In January 1942, he began keeping a personal diary, chronicling the hardship and anguish of life in the camp, the attempts the Jews made to create a cultural and social life, and the disease, death, rumors, and hopes that were part of their daily existence. In September 1942, he married Gertruda Baecková, with whom he had lived in Prague before they were sent to Terezín. In March 1944, she gave birth to their son Dan. In October of that year, the three of them were deported on one of the last waves of transports to the death camp of Auschwitz. Before he left, Gonda concealed his diary in an attic, where it remained until discovered by Czech workers in 1967. The English translation was published in 2015 under the title The Terezin Diary of Gonda Redlich.
Notice de désambigüisation
VIAF:49466386

Membres

Critiques

This is the diary of Egon "Gonda" Redlich, who lived in the Terezin Ghetto from 1941 to 1944. He was one of those in charge of the welfare of the ghetto's children, and worked tirelessly on their behalf. In his diary he wrote about events in the ghetto, disagreements among the inmates there, and his marriage and the birth of his baby son. Especially poignant is the short diary he wrote especially for his son to read when he got older. Redlich, his wife and child were sent to Auschwitz and gassed in 1944.

This book has extensive useful footnotes, so that even those who know little about Terezin will be able to understand what's going on. The footnotes remind us of how brutal life was there (Redlich doesn't complain that much) by doing things like pointing out how many people went out on transports and how many on each transport survived. It was generally about two or three percent, or less.

What struck me about the book is Redlich's frequent references to squabbling, jealousy and prejudice among the Jews themselves. Czechs vs. Germans vs. Dutch. Converted Christians vs. religious Jews. Zionists vs. assimilationists. Perhaps this bickering served to distract the inmates from their real enemy, the Nazis, about whom they could do nothing. It reminded me of The Life of Brian and all the revolutionary groups fighting with each other. ("Brothers, we should be united against the common enemy!" "The Judean People's Front?" "No, no, the Romans!" "Oh, right...")

I would recommend this book in conjunction with other books on Terezin and other Holocaust ghettos. It would make a good companion to other diaries of the period.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
meggyweg | 1 autre critique | Jun 3, 2009 |
A young man who had worked at the Zionist Youth Aliyah School in Prague; transferred to the ghetto in Theresienstadt in Dec of 1941 where he continued to work with the children for the ghetto administration.
 
Signalé
tmph | 1 autre critique | Oct 19, 2007 |

Listes

Statistiques

Œuvres
2
Membres
23
Popularité
#537,598
Évaluation
½ 4.5
Critiques
2
ISBN
3
Favoris
1