The German Cultural Forum in Debrecen, Hungary, is presenting the Hungarian translation of the story collection by Christoph Heubner at the Déri Museum: "Ich sehe Hunde, die an der Leine reissen" ("Kutyákat látok, akik feszítik a pórázt" / I see dogs straining at their leashes).
In this collection Christoph Heubner lends the victims of the Holocaust his literary voice in three different story forms. The book was translated into Hungarian by Zsuzsanna Iványi and the Auschwitz survivor Éva Fahidi, and is published by Wesley.
The actress Zsuzsa Oláh read some shocking passages from the book. At the presentation the Deputy Mayor of Debrecen, István Puskás, stressed that every event is important when we hand down the memories of the past and work together in this way to ensure that such tragedies cannot be repeated.
"This year it is exactly 80 years since the tragic events of 1944 befell Europe and Debrecen. There are still witnesses of the times among us today, but their numbers are declining, and cross-generational memories are becoming increasingly important," the deputy mayor stressed.
The author Christoph Heubner, Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, was a peace officer, documentary film-maker, radio broadcaster, and delegate to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. And in his current position he has for numerous decades cultivated close friendships with many survivors of Auschwitz, including Eva Fahidi.
He has worked with the survivors on joint projects and publications, organised readings, exhibitions, remembrance ceremonies and guided tours in Auschwitz. The wealth of information preserved there, the memories of his friends and the stories of the Holocaust that were entrusted to him, form the background to this book.
He wants to preserve their names, their stories and the memories of their families for coming generations. The short stories contain many Hungarian aspects, and most of the key figures are of Hungarian origin. In Magda’s story Eva is easily recognisable, as she returns to her home after Auschwitz and is not allowed to enter her own house. Eva is also embodied in the story of the musician from Kaposvár who, after arriving in Auschwitz, waits in vain for her family members to re-emerge from "the showers", and in the shape of her father the timber merchant who stands in front of the gas chamber waiting for his deployment.
Without a doubt, this is a book about Éva and other survivors who are able to recognise their own stories, their deportation and their murdered family members. "I started to count the people as they clambered into the wagons, or as elderly people and children were loaded into the wagons. I tried hard to count them. Suddenly the numbers died, there were too many, everything was far too much."
Program
Words of welcome:
Andrea Horváth, head of the German Cultural Forum, Debrecen
Opening:
István Puskás – Deputy Mayor of Debrecen
László Hunyadi – Honorary Consul of Israel
Talk:
Christoph Heubner – author, Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee
Zsuzsanna Iványi – translator
Andor Andrási – Éva Fahidi’s partner
The discussion moderator is László Levente Balogh, university lecturer.
Musical accompaniment:
Gergő Csorba, guitarist
Zsuzsa Oláh, actress
Date:
22 February 2024, 5 pm – 7 pm
Place:
Déri Múzeum
Díszterem
4026 Debrecen
Déri tér 1.
Entrance is free and without advance booking. The book can be purchased with a discount at the venue.
Books:
"Kutyákat látok, akik feszítik a pórázt"
Christoph Heubner
Wesley Publishing
ISBN: 9789639744622
First edition 12/2023
To the Hungarian book
"Ich sehe Hunde, die an der Leine reissen"
Christoph Heubner
ISBN 978-3-95829-937-5
Steidl Verlag
First edition 04/2021
To the German book
Photos of the event
