Paul Celan. Biography of the poet's youth

The greatest value of this biography lies in its strictly documentary nature. Every event, every detail is based here on the memories, reflections, “knots” of memory of people from the close circle of young Celan, which increases the authenticity of this biography, makes it a reliable source of evidence about the poet, a model of scientific integrity and historical reliability. More than 50 people from this circle – relatives, friends, school and student comrades, beloved girlfriends of the poet – were the objects of the author’s interviews. Before the appearance of this book, researchers of Celan’s work had to be content only with “a dry framework of known biographical dates”. Thanks to the efforts of Israel Halfen, the poet’s young years appear in all their plasticity, colors and completeness, and from now on the doors to Celan’s world are wide open for the Ukrainian reader.