Henryk Bereska

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Henryk Bereska (1995)

Henryk Bereska (born May 17, 1926 in Szopienice near Katowice ; † September 11, 2005 in Berlin ; actually Heinrich Bereska ) was a German writer and translator of Polish literature .

life and work

Born into a bilingual working class family in Upper Silesia , he settled in the GDR after the Second World War and studied German and Slavic studies at the Humboldt University in Berlin . Until 1955 he was editor of the Aufbau-Verlag , when he left for political reasons. Since then he has lived as a freelance translator in Berlin-Mitte and Kolberg in the Mark region .

Bereska was one of the co-signers against Wolf Biermann's expatriation . He did not withdraw his signature, despite difficulties, he was temporarily not allowed to travel to Poland and his wife was harassed.

Besides Karl Dedecius, Bereska was the most important translator of Polish literature in Germany. He translated a three-digit number of books and volumes of poetry into German, including such well-known names as Zbigniew Herbert , Tadeusz Różewicz and Adam Zagajewski . In addition, he worked tirelessly for the promotion of Polish writers in Germany.

From 1963 he published his own aphorisms and poems in anthologies and magazines. In 1980 his first own volume of poetry was published in West Berlin. His poems and aphorisms have been published in Corvinus Presse Berlin since 1990 . He was a member of the New Society for Literature (NGL) and was elected to its board from 1992 to 1993.

For his services he was awarded the Hans Sahl Prize in 2000 , the Samuel Bogumil Linde Prize in 2001 and the Transatlantyk Prize of the Polish Book Institute in 2005. In 2002 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Wroclaw . There were also other state awards from Germany ( Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1997, at the suggestion of his publisher Hendrik Liersch ) and Poland (Commander's Cross for the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland , 1998). In 2002 he was the clerk of the Beeskow community . Further scholarships in Ahrenshoop , Krokow, Straelen and Wiepersdorf . Bereska rode the German-Polish poet steamer several times , and in 2000 he took part in the international poetry festival in Struga (Macedonia).

In spring 2004 he handed over his archive to the Karl Dedecius Archive of the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder) .

Works (selection)

as an author

  1. Märkische poems . ISBN 3-910172-38-5 .
  2. What if the lean years were the fat? . ISBN 3-910172-46-6 (with a foreword by Günter Kunert and drawings by H. Hussel, Aphorisms)
  3. The hard-to-erase testimony. Scattered poems . ISBN 3-910172-50-4 .
  • Berlin late harvest. Pub poems . Corvinus Presse, Berlin, ISBN 3-910172-04-0 .
  • Burgschreiber zu Beeskow. Markish stripes . Aphaia-Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-926677-40-6 .
  • Gilda Bereska (Ed.): Heaven frowns. Poems, aphorisms, drawings . Aphaia-Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-926677-50-3 (drawings by Ralf Bergner ).
  • Kolberger booklets. Henryk Bereska's diaries 1967–1990 . Edition Book Guild, Frankfurt / M. 2008, ISBN 3-940111-39-2 .
  • Silent day. Poems . Verlag AmBEATion, Berlin 1980 (with 7 offset lithographs by Dieter Viehöfer and text by Werner Kilz ).
  • Reading book . Aphaia-Verlag, Berlin 2002.

as translator

literature

  • Grażyna Barbara Szewczyk: Henryk Bereska. Poeta, tłumacz, popularyzator literatury polskiej w Niemczech / Szewczyk . Katowice 2006, ISBN 978-83-60209-05-9 .
  • Jürgen Joachimsthaler: Henryk Bereska. A memorial sheet . In: Orbis Linguarum 29 (2005), pp. 5-14.
  • Lothar Jordan, Regina Wyrwoll (Ed.): Oder - Rhein. Boundaries in the river; an anthology . Kleist memorial u. Research facility, Frankfurt / Oder 2007, ISBN 978-3-938008-15-7 .
  • Werner Liersch (Ed.): The prizes that have not been awarded to me are increasing considerably. For Henryk Bereska's 70th birthday . Corvinus Presse, Berlin, 1996, ISBN 3-910172-39-3 .
  • Werner Liersch: I live on a mountain of sand: Henryk Bereska and Kolberg in Brandenburg . Kleist-Museum Frankfurt (Oder) 2011, ISBN 978-3-938008-31-7
  • Agata Paluszek: Henryk Bereska as a mediator of Polish literature in the GDR (1949-1990) . Leipzig 2007, ISBN 978-3-933816-37-5 .
  • Brigitta Helbig-Mischewski , Gabriela Matuszek (ed.): Ferryman unlimited. Germans and Poles in Europe today. In memory of Henryk Bereska . Hildesheim 2008, ISBN 978-3-487-13639-4 .
  • Błażej Kaźmierczak, Krzysztof A. Kuczyński (eds.): Niezatarte Świadectwo .... Życie i dzieło Henryka Bereski / The testimony that is difficult to erase .... The life and work of Henryk Bereska . Słubice, Włocławek, 2010, ISBN 978-83-60607-21-3 .
  • Adam Zagajewski: In memoriam Henryk Bereska . In: Sinn und Form 4/2006, p. 465
  • Short biography for:  Bereska, Henryk . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
  • Matthias Thalheim: Fatzer on the radio - encounters of a rare nature , therein text print Henryk all ways , pp. 10–16, Verlag epubli, Berlin 2019, ISBN 978-3-750260-96-2

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bereska, Henryk
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German translator of Polish literature
DATE OF BIRTH May 17, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Szopienice near Katowice , Poland
DATE OF DEATH September 11, 2005
Place of death Berlin