Nelly Sachs
Nelly Sachs, (
10 December 1891,
Berlin â€"
12 May 1970,
Stockholm) was a
German poet and
dramatist who was transformed by the
Nazi experience from a dilettante into a poignant spokesperson for the grief and yearnings of her fellow
Jews.
Born in
Schöneberg, Berlin in 1891, she fled to
Sweden in
1940. She was a friend of
Selma Lagerlöf and
Hilde Domin. When, with
Shmuel Yosef Agnon, she was awarded the
1966 Nobel Prize for Literature, she observed that Agnon represented
Israel whereas "I represent the tragedy of the Jewish people." In the context of the
Shoah, her deep friendship with "brother" poet
Paul Celan is often noted today.
Following her death in 1970, Nelly Sachs was interred in the
Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm.
A memorial plaque commemorates her birthplace, Maaßenstraße 12, in
Schöneberg, Berlin; where there is also a park, in Dennewitzstraße, named after her.
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Nelly Sachs more info*
Hilde Domin, a lyric colleague and friend
* [
1] Map showing location of Maaßenstraße and Nelly-Sachs-Park in Berlin-Schöneberg.
