The greatest value of this biography lies in its strictly documentary nature. Every event, every detail is based here on memories, reflections, & laquo; knots & raquo; The memory of people close to young Celan, which increases the authenticity of this biography, makes it a reliable source of evidence of the poet, a model of scientific integrity and historical authenticity. More than 50 people in this circle & ndash; relatives, friends, school and student friends, beloved friends of the poet & ndash; were the objects of the author's surveys. Prior to the publication of this book, researchers of Celan's work were forced to be satisfied only with the "dry frame" of known biographical dates. Thanks to the efforts of Israel Halfen, the poet's young years appear in all their plasticity, colors and fullness, and from now on the Ukrainian reader is wide open to Celan's world.
Translation, afterword, commentary by Peter Ryhl.
Published with the support of the Representation of the Austrian Academic Exchange Service, Lviv.
Translated by Israel Chalfen. Paul Celan. A biography of his youth. First installation. & ndash; Frankfurt am Mein: Insel Verlag 1979.
The book uses a 1930s photo of Paul Anchel and his friend Karl Rosenzweig in Chernivtsi (from the family collection of Naomi Eshet, Israel).