Poppy and memory

Paul Celan's poetry collection "Poppies and Memory" (1952) marked a turning point in post-war German lyrics and became a symbol of "poetry after Auschwitz." Everything in it was unexpected and unusual - the way of thinking, the figurative structure, the formal sophistication, the language. However, it was by no means a sudden poetic epiphany that descended on the young author by the will of providence, but the result of persistent years of work and tireless searches for an adequate embodiment of the painful issues that inevitably arose in the deeply traumatized German consciousness after the terrible Nazi crimes. With his collection "Poppies and Memory," Celan sought to provide a poetic response to the challenges of the time. Therefore, these poems are convincingly inscribed in the coordinates of their era - not only as its significant aesthetic achievement, but also as an important historical and ethical testimony.