Halina Birenbaum

Halina Birenbaum (Hebrew: הלינה בירנבאום; Warsaw, 15 September 1929) is a Polish-born Israeli Holocaust survivor, writer, poet, translator and activist.

Halina Birenbaum
Halina Birenbaum (2019)
Born (1929-09-15) 15 September 1929
Warsaw, Poland
NationalityPolish, Israeli
Known forwriting, poetry
Notable workHope is the last to die (Nadzieja umiera ostatnia)
AwardsOfficer of Polonia Restituta

Life

Born in Warsaw, to Jakub Grynsztajn and Pola formerly Perl, née Kijewska, she was the youngest of three and the only daughter.[1] After the occupation of Poland by Germany, the family's home was in area that was part of the Warsaw Ghetto.[2][3] After its destruction in July 1943 they were briefly transferred to Majdanek, then on to Auschwitz. She survived forced evacuation of the camp, the Death March of January 1945, from Auschwitz to Wodzisław Śląski,[4] from which she was transported to Ravensbrück and in February on to Neustadt-Glewe, from where she was liberated by the Red Army in May 1945.[5] Her mother was murdered in Majdanek while her father and brothers were murdered in the Treblinka extermination camp.

In 1947, due to antisemitism, she emigrated to Israel, where she married Chaim Birenbaum and had two sons. Until the end of 1950 she worked on a kibbutz. She spends much of her time talking about her early experiences with Israeli, Polish and German youth.

Writing

Life and death during the German occupation of Poland and the martyrdom of Polish Jewry in ghettos and extermination camps are the salient themes of her prose and poetic output. Her works, which are partly written in Polish and partly in Hebrew, have been translated into many languages, including, English French, German, Japanese and Spanish.

Awards
  • In 1999 the Polish President, Aleksander Kwaśniewski awarded her the Order of Officer of Polonia Restituta
  • In March 2001 she was named Person of Reconciliation 2001 by the Polish Council of Christians and Jews.
  • In 2015 she was recognized for her services to Warsaw, Zasłużony dla Warszawy.[6]
  • In 2018 she was granted the "Freedom of the City of Warsaw", Honorowi Obywatele miasta stołecznego Warszawy.[7]

Bibliography

Books
  • Hope is the last to die (Nadzieja umiera ostatnia), 1967. Translated into English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and Hebrew
  • Return to ancestors' land (Powrót do ziemi praojców), 1991
  • Scream for remembrance (Wołanie o pamięć),1999
  • Far and near echoes. Meetings with young people(Echa dalekie i bliskie. Spotkania z młodzieżą), 2001
  • Life is dear to everyone (Życie każdemu drogie), 2005
  • My life began from the end. Collected Poems Of A Holocaust Survivor. (Moje życie zaczęło się od końca. Wiersze Zebrane Poetki Ocalałej Z Zagłady), 2010
  • They still ask (Wciąż pytają) 2011
  • I am looking for life in the dead, Interview with Halina Birenbaum (Szukam życia u umarłych, Wywiad z Haliną Birenbaum), 2013
  • It's not the rain, it's people (To nie deszcz, to ludzie), 2019

Poems
  • Even when I laugh (Nawet gdy się śmieję)
  • Not about flowers (Nie o Kwiatach)
  • Words cannot convey (Jak można w słowach)

References
  1. Halina Birenbaum: Ma jeunesse et le siècle de l'Holocauste, accessed 23 January 2017.
  2. P. Cywiński, Marsz Śmierci w pamięci ewakuowanych więźniów Auschwitz, Oświęcim 2016, p. 41. in Polish
  3. "Na dnie piekła. Z Haliną Birenbaum, polsko-izraelską pisarką, poetką rozmawia Monika Tutak-Goll". Wysokie Obcasy (Dodatek do Gazety Wyborczej) (in Polish): 8. 21 April 2018.
  4. P. Cywiński, Marsz Śmierci w pamięci ewakuowanych więźniów Auschwitz, Oświęcim 2016, p. 41.
  5. Halina Birenbaum: Das Leben als Hoffnung, accessed 23 January 2017.
  6. "Halina Birenbaum wyróżniona tytułem "Zasłużony dla Warszawy"" (in Polish). onet.pl. 13 October 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  7. "Uchwała nr LXII/1663/2018 z 01-03-2018 w sprawie nadania Honorowego Obywatelstwa Miasta Stołecznego Warszawy" (in Polish). Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej m.st. Warszawy. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
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