Debrecen4U October 26, 2026

Art of Survival and Remembrance Discussed by Exhibition on Edith Bruck in Debrecen

Ways to preserve memories and pass lessons of the past on to future generations were among the topics explored at the event titled Meeting Edith Bruck held at the Pásti Street Synagogue on 21 October as part of the Éva Fahidi Dialogue Programme. An exhibition, literary readings and an online conversation offered secondary school students studying Italian an insight into the life of the Hungarian-born Holocaust survivor, poet, writer and literary translator.

Born in 1931 in Tiszabercel and raised in Tiszakarád as Edit Steinschreiber, the writer was deported along with her Jewish family in 1944. Only two of her siblings and Edith herself survived the horrors of the death camps, having endured six camps as teenagers. After the atrocities of the war, she moved several times before finding a new home in Italy in 1954. There, she began to develop her literary career, which has since grown to encompass around 30 books. The exhibition now visited by Debrecen students commemorates this extraordinary life, marked by hardship and perseverance.

“Thankfully, there are still many Holocaust survivors living among us, both in Debrecen and around the world. In Edith Bruck’s case, too, it is particularly important that she tells young people what happened and helps them understand the past, so that together we can draw lessons from history,” emphasised Tamás Horovitz, President of the Jewish Community of Debrecen.

Focusing on the life of the international award-winning author, the event was organised as part of the Dialogue Programme named after Éva Fahidi, a Holocaust survivor with ties to Debrecen.

“After returning from the camps, she spent a short time in our city before settling in Italy, in Rome to be precise. There, she became a recognised poet, literary translator and an influential intellectual figure in cultural life. The significance of her work is illustrated by the fact that, a few years ago, Pope Francis personally visited her at home,” noted Deputy Mayor István Puskás.

“Like when we arrived in hell on earth” was one of the passages heard after the opening ceremony, as students from Ady Endre Grammar School and Tóth Árpád Grammar School read excerpts from the author’s works in Hungarian and Italian. The highlight of the programme was an online appearance by the writer from her home in Rome, giving her the opportunity to recall the most important turning points in her life. “When we returned home after the war, nobody wanted to hear about what had happened. We were not allowed to talk about it, and we ourselves could not share our pain with others. That was when I thought that paper could bear anything, so I began to write,” recalled Edith Bruck, poet, writer and literary translator, speaking about the difficulties she faced at the beginning of her literary career.

The thought-provoking event at the Pásti Street Synagogue was jointly organised by the Dante Alighieri Association of Budapest, the City of Debrecen and the local Jewish community.

Source and photo credit: debrecen.hu