Nelly Sachs
oday’s Google Doodle marks the 127th birthday of German Jewish poet and dramatist Nelly Sachs. She fled Germany for Sweden when the Nazis took power, and her work describes the trauma of Jews during Nazi persecution. Born in Berlin to a prosperous manufacturing family on December 10, 1891, Sachs studied dance and literature as a child and began writing as an adolescent. She published her poetry in German newspapers, mainly for her own enjoyment, as well as a collection of stories called Legends and Tales.In 1966 she was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature with Israeli author Shmuel Yosef Agnon, and remarked what while Agnon represented Israel, “I represent the tragedy of the Jewish people.”During this time, she corresponded with distinguished Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf—who became the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1909.After escaping to Sweden, Sachs learnt Swedish, and supported herself and her mother in a one-room apartment by working as a translator. During this time, she wrote powerful poems and plays about the aftermath of the war and family members who died in concentration camps.After the Nazis took power, Sachs learnt she was to be sent to a forced labour camp. Lagerlöf saved Sachs and her mother’s lives (her father had died in 1930), petitioning the Swedish royal family to help the Sachs escape Germany at the start of World War II. In a tribute to Sachs, Google said: “Her haunting poem O die Schornsteine (O the Chimneys), evokes the spirits of the dearly departed through the image of smoke rising from the camps. Sachs described the 'metaphors' in her poetry as 'wounds,' but her work also explores themes of transformation and forgiveness. She expanded on these ideas in her 1951 play Eli: Ein Mysterienspiel vom Leiden Israels (Eli: A Mystery Play of the Sufferings of Israel).
On its website, The Nobel Prize describes the seminal significance of her work.
"The collections Sternverdunkelung (Eclipse of Stars), 1949, Und niemand weiss weiter (And No One Knows Where to Go), 1957, and Flucht und Verwandlung (Flight and Metamorphosis), 1959, repeat, develop, and reinforce the cycle of suffering, Besides her Nobel Prize, Sachs won many other accolades including the 1965 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. “In spite of all the horrors of the past,” she said when accepting the award.
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