Cold Crematorium: The "Lost" Holocaust Masterpiece with Alexander Bruner - Thursday Night Speaker Series In-Person
József Debreczeni, a veteran journalist, poet, and novelist arrived in Auschwitz in May 1944. Had he been sent "left," his life expectancy would have been approximately 45 minutes. One of the “lucky" ones, he was sent to the "right," to a series of slave labor camps. He survived, producing what one reviewer called “the harshest, most merciless indictment of Nazism ever written.” The work was first published in Hungarian in 1950 but was never translated into a world language due to McCarthyism, Cold War hostilities, and antisemitism. Until now! More than 70 years later, the work will be available in 15 languages around the world. The English translation is being published by St. Martin's Press/Macmillan and Penguin Random House.
Join Alex Bruner, the author’s nephew, a child of Holocaust survivors from Yugoslavia who remained in Europe after World War II, as he discusses his uncle's life, the book’s journey from obscurity, its literary merit, historical significance, and relevance to our own time.
Praise for Cold Crematorium
"Superb...an unforgettable testimonial to the terror of the Holocaust and the will to endure."
—Kirkus (starred)
“Whatever I say about this amazing book feels inadequate. Cold Crematorium is a brilliant book, but the word brilliant does not encompass it. It evades words. I have seldom read a book that creates empathy while dealing with the most dehumanized and dehumanizing experience. I wish everyone would read it, especially in this time of sheer inhumanity and baffling complicity.”
—Azar Nafisi, author of Reading Lolita in Teheran
“An indispensable work of literature and a historical document of unsurpassed importance. It should be required reading.”
—Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Everything is Illuminated
The Thursday Night Speakers series is sponsored by the Friends of the Boca Raton Public Library.
Register to receive a reminder but all drop-ins are welcome!
- Date:
- Thursday, February 15, 2024 Show more dates
- Time:
- 6:00pm - 7:30pm
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- Community Room (Map )
- Library Branch:
- Downtown Library
- Audience:
- Adults
- Categories:
- Event