Lidia Zamenhof

Portrait of Lidia Zamenhof

Lidia Zamenhof (in Esperanto: Lidja Zamenhof ; born January 29, 1904 in Warsaw , Russian Empire ; died after September 5, 1942 in the Treblinka extermination camp ). She was the youngest daughter of the Esperanto creator Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof , who later taught Esperanto using the Cseh method in many European and US cities . After completing her law degree, she was an active promoter of Esperanto and also of Homaranismo , a kind of religious and ethical global citizenship that had been formulated by her father. She translated literature into the still young Esperanto language , founded the Esperanto Students Association, and wrote articles for Esperanto magazines. Around 1925 she became a member of the Baha'i movement. At the end of 1937 she went to the USA to teach Esperanto. In 1938, due to the immigration policy of the USA, she had to return to Poland, where she continued to teach Esperanto and also translated basic Baha'i scripts into Esperanto. As a native Jew, she was murdered in the Nazi extermination camp in Treblinka in autumn 1942 .

Life

Lidia Zamenhof learned Esperanto when she was 9 years old. At the age of 14 she was already translating Polish literature. Her first publications appeared a few years later. At the end of 1925 she finished her law studies and devoted herself entirely to work for Esperanto. In the same year, during the 17th Esperanto World Congress in Geneva, she got to know the Baha'i religion . Lidja became secretary of the Konkordo Esperanto Society in Warsaw, which promoted homaranismo , and often organized lectures and courses. She has taken part in every other one since the Vienna Esperanto World Congress in 1924. As an Esperanto teacher of the Cseh method (see: eo.wikipedia.org, only with Esperanto as the language of instruction), she made several propaganda trips and led courses in different countries.

She actively worked in the International Student League of the Esperanto World Federation, the Cseh Institute and the Baha'i religion. Lidia also wrote for the magazine Literatura Mondo, especially about works from Polish literature, and contributed to the following Esperanto magazines: Pola Esperantisto , La Praktiko , Heraldo de Esperanto , Enciklopedio de Esperanto and other Esperanto- language publications.

Her translation of Quo vadis? by Henryk Sienkiewicz , which was published in 1933.

In 1937 she went to the United States for a longer stay to promote Esperanto. In December 1938 she had to leave the United States because the immigration authorities did not renew her residence permit because of her illegal “paid work” for Esperanto courses.

Therefore she had to return to Warsaw at the end of 1938. There she worked on fables by Hans Christian Andersen in Esperanto and translated other works by Bahá'u'lláh , the founder of the Baha'i religion, into Esperanto. After the German army marched into Warsaw, she and four family members were imprisoned in Pawiak prison for six months - the reason is unknown. She never saw her brother Adam again. In November 1940, she and other members of her family were sent to the Warsaw Ghetto - from where on September 5, 1942, she and many others were transported to Treblinka in a cattle wagon. It is believed that September 5th - or shortly thereafter - was the anniversary of her death.

Works (selection)

Translations into Esperanto

• The comprehensive book on the Baha'i dormers Bahá'u'lláh kaj la Nova Epoko from the English, by John Ebenezer Esslemont ;
• Libro de Certeco , the book of Baha'u'llah, founder of the Baha'i religion ;
• Parizaj Paroladoj de 'Abdu'l-Bahá ;
• Iridiono by the Polish author Zygmunt Krasiński ;
• Short stories by Bolesław Prus ;
• Quo Vadis? , by Henryk Sienkiewicz

Original in Esperanto

• Por ke la tagoj de la homaro estu pli lumaj , the collection of texts by Lidia Zamenhof, ed.Flandra Esperanto-Ligo (see: eo.wikipedia.org), 2009.

literature

• Wendy Heller: Lidia. The life of Lidia Zamenhof, Daughter of Esperanto. George Ronald, Oxford, 1985.
  • Wendy Heller: Lidia. La vivo de Lidia Zamenhof, Filino de Esperanto. Flandra Esperanto-Ligo, 2007.