Badenheim 1939
Encyclopedia
Badenheim 1939 is Israel
i author Aharon Appelfeld
's first novel to be translated into English
. First published in Hebrew
in 1978 as באדנהיים עיר נופש (Badenhaim `ir nofesh), it was soon translated in to many other languages. Badenheim is an allegorical satire
that tells the story of a fictional Jewish town in Austria
shortly before its residents are relocated to Nazi concentration camps in German occupied Poland
.
that hosts a yearly arts festival, organized by Dr. Pappenheim. Slowly, the Nazi
regime, represented by the "Sanitation Department", begins shutting down the town and preparing to move its residents to Eastern Europe
. The citizens begin blaming each other and losing their minds. Despite impending doom, others remain optimistic and refuse to see the coming Holocaust
.
Frau Zauberblit: an escapee from a nearby sanitorium (she appears to have mild symptoms of tuberculosis); in her gay straw hat, she enjoys the companionship and culture that Badenheim provides.
Martin: the local pharmacist, is self-conscious and quick to blame himself for the problems of others. He is dedicated to his ailing wife, Trude.
Trude: Martin’s wife; stricken with severe depression and paranoia, she constantly awaits news from her daughter.
Sally and Gertie: two local middle-aged prostitutes, largely accepted by the community.
Mandelbaum: an eccentric musician who arrives late in the season, along with a musical trio.
Dr. Shutz: a boyish, love-starved doctor who is in love with a visiting schoolgirl who he soon learns is pregnant.
Dr. Langmann: claiming his Austrian heritage with pride, he is quick to denounce his Judaism in order to maintain his status.
Karl and Lotte: a couple who journey to arriving Badenheim for the music festival. Karl has dragged a skeptical Lotte to the town, but it is Karl who loses his grip on reality as the summer wears on.
Leon Samitzky: a musician who migrated from Poland as a child and still recalls his native land with fondness.
The yanuka: Nahum Slotzker, a polish child and musical prodigy brought to Badenheim by Dr. Pappenheim. (“Yanuka” is an Aramaic word meaning “child prodigy,” often used to describe very young and very bright Ttalmudic scholars.).
The rabbi: old, infirm and forgotten, he appears in his wheelchair very late in the novel, lamenting in an incomprehensible mixture of Yiddish and Hebrew.
The novel was adapted as a stage play with music by the British dramatist Sir Arnold Wesker and composer Julian Phillips. First staging was planned for Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London in November 2010.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i author Aharon Appelfeld
Aharon Appelfeld
-Biography:Appelfeld was born in the village of Zhadova near Czernowitz, Romania, now Ukraine. In 1941, when he was eight years old, the Romanian army invaded his hometown and his mother was murdered. Appelfeld was deported with his father to a concentration camp in Ukraine. He escaped and hid for...
's first novel to be translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. First published in Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
in 1978 as באדנהיים עיר נופש (Badenhaim `ir nofesh), it was soon translated in to many other languages. Badenheim is an allegorical satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
that tells the story of a fictional Jewish town in Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
shortly before its residents are relocated to Nazi concentration camps in German occupied Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
Plot summary
Badenheim is a primarily Jewish resort town in AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
that hosts a yearly arts festival, organized by Dr. Pappenheim. Slowly, the Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
regime, represented by the "Sanitation Department", begins shutting down the town and preparing to move its residents to Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. The citizens begin blaming each other and losing their minds. Despite impending doom, others remain optimistic and refuse to see the coming Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
.
Characters in Badenheim 1939
Dr. Pappenheim: an optimistic and eccentric impresario who visits Badenheim each summer to organize the annual music festival. He craves structure, constantly refers to schedules and timetables, and, but is always able to find positive explanations for the most ominous of actions.Frau Zauberblit: an escapee from a nearby sanitorium (she appears to have mild symptoms of tuberculosis); in her gay straw hat, she enjoys the companionship and culture that Badenheim provides.
Martin: the local pharmacist, is self-conscious and quick to blame himself for the problems of others. He is dedicated to his ailing wife, Trude.
Trude: Martin’s wife; stricken with severe depression and paranoia, she constantly awaits news from her daughter.
Sally and Gertie: two local middle-aged prostitutes, largely accepted by the community.
Mandelbaum: an eccentric musician who arrives late in the season, along with a musical trio.
Dr. Shutz: a boyish, love-starved doctor who is in love with a visiting schoolgirl who he soon learns is pregnant.
Dr. Langmann: claiming his Austrian heritage with pride, he is quick to denounce his Judaism in order to maintain his status.
Karl and Lotte: a couple who journey to arriving Badenheim for the music festival. Karl has dragged a skeptical Lotte to the town, but it is Karl who loses his grip on reality as the summer wears on.
Leon Samitzky: a musician who migrated from Poland as a child and still recalls his native land with fondness.
The yanuka: Nahum Slotzker, a polish child and musical prodigy brought to Badenheim by Dr. Pappenheim. (“Yanuka” is an Aramaic word meaning “child prodigy,” often used to describe very young and very bright Ttalmudic scholars.).
The rabbi: old, infirm and forgotten, he appears in his wheelchair very late in the novel, lamenting in an incomprehensible mixture of Yiddish and Hebrew.
Literary significance and criticism
Some critics have attacked Appelfeld for his negative portrayal of the characters, claiming that by doing so the text is implying that the European Jews were somehow deserving of their fate. Others have analyzed the text as a Zionist piece, as it criticizes the lack of unity among the Jews of Badenheim.The novel was adapted as a stage play with music by the British dramatist Sir Arnold Wesker and composer Julian Phillips. First staging was planned for Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London in November 2010.