Misplaced Pages

#866133

31-685: The idea for the creation of the Stiftung Ettersberg goes back to the Spanish writer and dramatist Jorge Semprún . As a former prisoner of Buchenwald Concentration Camp he suggested in 1994, on the occasion of the Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels award, to make use of the Ettersberg, on which Buchenwald Concentration Camp and afterwards the Soviet Special Camp No. 2 had been set up, as

62-742: A Resistance organization made up mostly of immigrants. After joining the Spanish Communist Party in 1942 in France, Semprún was reassigned to the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans (FTP), the Communist armed Resistance. In 1943 he was arrested by the Gestapo and deported to Buchenwald concentration camp for his role in the Resistance. He deals with the experiences in two books: Le grand voyage (1963) treats

93-703: A member of the central committee of the Spanish Communist Party (PCE), and his undercover activities in Spain between 1953 and 1964. The book shows a stark view of Communist organizations during the Cold War , and presents a very critical portrait of leading figures of the PCE, including Santiago Carrillo and Dolores Ibárruri . What a Beautiful Sunday ( Quel beau dimanche! ), his novel of life in Buchenwald and after liberation

124-506: A point of reference symbolizing Germany’s double experience of dictatorship. He encouraged to take advantage of it with a European perspective in order to further the idea of democratic development in Central and Eastern Europe and of a European integration. The then minister-president of Thuringia, Dr Bernhard Vogel , took up this idea. On his initiative the Thuringian state government established

155-743: Is a 1966 French war drama film about a leftist in Franco 's Spain , directed by Alain Resnais and starring Yves Montand , Ingrid Thulin and Geneviève Bujold . Joseph Losey directed a sequel, Roads to the South ( French : Les Routes du Sud -1978). In July 2021, the film was shown in the Cannes Classics section at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival . In the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War , communist veteran Diego has dedicated his life to continuing

186-462: Is non-linear and achronological. The narrative setting shifts back and forth in time, exploring the past and future in relation to key events. With each recounting, events take on different meanings. Semprún's works are self-reflexive. His narrators explore how events live on in memory and means of communicating the events of the concentration camp to readers who cannot fathom that experience. His more recent work in this vein also includes reflections on

217-570: Is titled „European Dictatorships and their Overcoming“. Since 2003, there have been published 15 volumes at Boehlau publishing house: The Stiftung Ettersberg presents four touring exhibitions in various German and European cities: Jorge Sempr%C3%BAn Jorge Semprún Maura ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxoɾxe semˈpɾum ˈmawɾa] ; 10 December 1923 – 7 June 2011 ) was a Spanish writer and politician who lived in France most of his life and wrote primarily in French. From 1953 to 1962, during

248-408: Is to elucidate their mechanisms of rule and their driving forces. Moreover, it is dedicated to reveal the significance of opposition and resistance against authoritarian and totalitarian suppression and it keeps alive the memory of the victims of dictatorial violence. Besides, it is concerned with the problems of “coping” with the past and questions of transition from dictatorship to democracy as well as

279-594: The New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Foreign Language Film , the Louis Delluc Prize for best film, and two Étoile de Cristal prizes (best film and best actor). It also tied for the Méliès Prize as the best French film of its year (with Au hasard Balthazar ). This 1960s drama film–related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to

310-635: The Socialist Party (PSOE) . He resigned the post three years later after publishing an article openly criticising the vice-president, Alfonso Guerra , and his brother Juan Guerra. In 1996, Semprún became the first non-French author to be elected to the Académie Goncourt , which awards an annual prize for literature written in French. In 2002, he was awarded the inaugural Ovid Prize in recognition of his entire body of work, which focuses on "tolerance and freedom of expression". Jorge Semprún served as

341-488: The Spanish Communist Party (1953–64), and Federico Sánchez se despide de ustedes , which deals with his term of service as Minister of Culture in the second Socialist government of Felipe González (1988–91). A novel in Spanish, Veinte años y un día , is set in 1956 and deals with recent history in Spain. Semprún's first book, Le grand voyage ( The Long Voyage in English; republished as The Cattle Truck in 2005 by Serif ),

SECTION 10

#1733094011867

372-625: The Stiftung Ettersberg organises international symposia, scientific conferences and colloquia, of which the results are issued in our own publication serial. In Thuringia , in the heart of Europe, the foundation promotes the dialogue between prolific university institutes, scientific and pedagogical institutions and other initiatives that operate in the field of dictatorship research and democratic transition processes. It organises exhibitions and initiates competitions for students on issues such as experience of dictatorship, stabilisation and endangering of democracy. The Stiftung Ettersberg publication serial

403-541: The Stiftung Ettersberg, located in Weimar, in spring 2002 and the appointment of the executive board and the advisory council of the foundation. The foundation is devoted to the comparative study of European dictatorships in the 20th century as well as their democratic transition. Its object is to contribute to the historical coming to terms with and the comparative analysis of dictatorships of fascist, national socialist and communist provenance as well as authoritarian regimes; it

434-573: The camp and after liberation. The novel won two literary prizes, the Prix Formentor and Prix littéraire de la Résistance ("Literary Prize of the Resistance"). In 1977, his Autobiografía de Federico Sánchez ( Autobiography of Federico Sánchez ) won the Premio Planeta , the most highly remunerated literary prize in Spain. In spite of the pseudonymous title, the work is Semprún's least fictionalized volume of autobiography, recounting his life as

465-538: The dictatorship of Francisco Franco , Semprún lived clandestinely in Spain working as an organizer for the exiled Communist Party of Spain , but was expelled from the party in 1964. After the death of Franco and the change to a democratic government, he served as Minister of Culture in Spain's socialist government from 1988 to 1991. He was a screenwriter for two successive films by the Greek director Costa-Gavras , Z (1969) and The Confession (1970), which dealt with

496-464: The field of social and cultural studies in Europe. It endeavours to disseminate national experiences internationally and thereby to make a contribution to the stabilisation of liberal democracy throughout Europe. It also aims at being a platform of international encounters, reflection, remembrance, encouragement and last but not least of a critical analysis of contemporary developments. From a European angle,

527-569: The honorary chairman of the Spanish branch of Action Against Hunger . He lived in Paris . In 2001, while giving a conference at the Lycée Frédéric Mistral in Avignon , France , he inspired young Pablo Daniel Magee to become a writer . Magee went on to write Opération Condor, prefaced by Costa Gavras . Semprún married the actress Loleh Bellon in 1949. Their son, Jaime Semprún (1947–2010),

558-399: The journey to Buchenwald, and Quel beau dimanche! (1980) his camp experiences. In 1945, Semprún returned to France and became an active member of the exiled Communist Party of Spain (PCE). From 1953 to 1962, he was an important organizer of the PCE's clandestine activities in Spain, using the pseudonym of Federico Sánchez. He entered the party's executive committee in 1956. In 1964, he

589-534: The meaning of Europe and of being European, as informed by this period of history, including how Buchenwald was reopened by Soviet forces as Special Camp No. 2 of the NKVD , and then largely razed and planted over by East Germany to hide the mass graves from this second dark episode. Semprún's writing in Spanish deals with Spanish subject matter, and includes two volumes of memoirs: Autobiografía de Federico Sánchez , about his clandestine work in and later exclusion from

620-452: The plan, he tries to persuade them to abandon the action as misconceived, but they ignore him. The leaders of the underground send Diego on a mission to Barcelona along with a new recruit, perhaps as a way of getting rid of him as the police have since discovered his identity. His lover Marianne, who has received a warning from Nadine, attempts to intercept him before he is arrested. The film was nominated for an Oscar for its script . It won

651-453: The stability conditions of liberal democracies. Accordingly, it is the task of the Stiftung Ettersberg to prospectively pursue historical research which does not only perform work of memory but goes beyond this by making successive generations sensitive for the latent danger to freedom and democracy. The Stiftung Ettersberg attempts to foster the international and interdisciplinary dialogue between political scholars, historians, and researchers in

SECTION 20

#1733094011867

682-504: The struggle against the Francoist State while he lives in exile in Paris. Lately, however, he has become war-weary and skeptical about the tactics of the extremist underground. After meeting Nadine by using her father's passport, Diego learns that she is involved with an alternative extremist group that is planning an armed attack in Spain. When he meets the young extremists who will execute

713-512: The theme of persecution by governments, Z (1969) and The Confession (1970). For his work on Z , he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay but did not win. He was a member of the jury at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival . In 1988 he was appointed Minister of Culture in Felipe González's second government, despite being neither an elected MP nor a member of

744-453: The theme of persecution by governments. For his work on the films The War Is Over (1966) and Z (1969) Semprún was nominated for the Academy Award . In 1996, he became the first non-French author elected to the Académie Goncourt , which awards an annual literary prize. He won the 1997 Jerusalem Prize , and the 2002 Ovid Prize . Jorge Semprún Maura was born in 1923 in Madrid. His mother

775-586: Was Susana Maura Gamazo, the youngest daughter of Antonio Maura , who served several times as prime minister of Spain. His father, José María Semprún Gurrea (1893–1966), was a liberal politician and served as a diplomat for the Republic of Spain during the Spanish Civil War . In the wake of the military uprising led by General Franco in July 1936, the Semprún family moved to France , and then to The Hague where his father

806-733: Was a diplomat, representing the Republic of Spain in the Netherlands. After the Netherlands officially recognized the Franco government in the beginning of 1939, the family returned to France as refugees. Jorge Semprún enrolled there at the Lycée Henri IV and later the Sorbonne . During the Nazi occupation of France , the young Semprún joined the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans – Main-d'Œuvre Immigrée (FTP-MOI),

837-447: Was also a writer. Later Semprún married the French film editor Colette Leloup in 1958. They had five children: Dominique Semprún, Ricardo Semprún, Lourdes Semprún, Juan Semprún and Pablo Semprún . He is the brother of the writer Carlos Semprún (1926–2009). Semprún wrote primarily in French and alludes to French authors as much as to Spanish ones. Most of his books are fictionalized accounts of his deportation to Buchenwald. His writing

868-420: Was expelled from the party because of "differences regarding the party line", and from then on he concentrated on his writing career. Semprún wrote many novels , plays , and screenplays , for which he received several nominations, including an Academy Award in 1970, and awards, including the 1997 Jerusalem Prize . He was a screenwriter for two successive films by the Greek director Costa-Gavras , dealing with

899-467: Was published by Grasset in 1980. It purports to tell what it was like to live one day, hour by hour, in the concentration camp, but like Semprún's other novels, the narrator recounts events that precede and follow that day. In part, Semprún was inspired by A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn , and the work contains criticism of Stalinism as well as fascism . Literature or Life

930-451: Was published by Gallimard in 1994. The French title, L'Ecriture ou la vie , might be better translated as "Writing or Life". Semprún explores themes related to deportation, but the focus is on living with the memory of the experience and how to write about it. Semprún revisits scenes from previous works and gives rationales for his literary choices. The War Is Over (1966 film) The War Is Over ( French : La Guerre est finie )

961-498: Was published in 1963 by Gallimard . It recounts Semprún's deportation and incarceration in Buchenwald in fictionalized form. A feature of the novel, and with Semprún's work in general, is its fractured chronology. The work recounts his train journey and arrival at the concentration camp. During the long trip, the narrator provides the reader with flashbacks to his experiences in the French Resistance and flash-forwards to life in

Stiftung Ettersberg - Misplaced Pages Continue

#866133