" . . . Zsuzsanna Ozsvath bring[s] forth Radnoti's life, his thought, and his passion with a depth of insight that is rare in a scholar. Brilliant, penetrating, and passionate, Ozsvath's book sets a new standard of excellence in Holocaust studies." --David Patterson, The University of Memphis
In the Footsteps of Orpheus considers the life and work of Mikl--s Radn--ti, one of Hungary's greatest twentieth-century poets. It examines Radn--ti's artistic development and premonitory poetry and illuminates the intellectual ambience in which he lived. Ultimately, it follows the poet's route into the forced labor camp and on the death march, exploring both the circumstances of his murder and the impact of the atrocities he suffered on his creative imagination.
Includes selections from Radno´ti's poetry in English translation.
English and Hungarian.
Miklós Radnóti, birth name Miklós Glatter (May 5, 1909, Budapest, Austria-Hungary – November 10, 1944, near Abda, Hungary) was a Hungarian poet who fell victim to the Holocaust.
Eighteen months later, his body was unearthed and in the front pocket of his overcoat the small notebook of his final poems was discovered.
In the early forties, he was conscripted by the Hungarian Army, but being a Jew, he was assigned to a weaponless support battalion (munkaszolgálat) in the Ukrainian front. In May of 1944, the defeated Hungarians retreated and Radnóti's labor battalion was assigned to the Bor, Serbia copper mines. In August of 1944, as consequence of Tito's advance, Radnóti's group of 3200 Hungarian Jews was force-marched to Central Hungary, which very few reached alive. Radnóti was fated not to be among them. Throughout these last months of his life, he continued to write poems in a little notebook he kept with him. According to witnesses, in early November of 1944, Radnóti was severily beaten by a drunken militiaman, who had been tormenting him for "scribbling". Too weak to continue, he was shot into a mass grave near the village of Abda in Northwestern Hungary. Today, a statue next to the road commemorates his death on this spot.
