ETERNAL LIGHT, THE: NELLY SACHS: POET OF THE
HOLOCAUST (RADIO)
Summary
One in a series of religious programs, presented by the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America, focusing on
Judaic themes. Part three of a three-part series
devoted to poet Nelly Sachs, winner of the 1966 Nobel
Prize for Literature. The program opens with a
recording of Sachs reading a selection of her poetry in
German. First, narrator Norman Rose interviews Sachs's
longtime friend, Vera Lachman, who says although Sachs
became known as "the Poet of the Holocaust" from her
book, "In the Habitations of Death," Sachs's earlier
poems were romantic, like folk tunes. Spencer Holst
remarks that when Sachs writes about Israel she is
often embracing all of humankind, and Marian Seldes
illustrates this point with a reading of Sachs's poem,
"But Who Emptied Your Shoes." After Lachman explains
the poet's fiance died in a concentration camp while
carrying stones for the Nazis, Holst reads the poem,
"Stones." Seldes then reads a poem that Sachs wrote
about watching her mother die, and another one
comparing Sachs's emigration from Sweden to one's
emigration from earth upon death. Then, Holst reads
from "Chorus of the Rescued," a poem about the guilt of
being alive and the randomness of survival. Lachman and
Holst agree that calling her a Jewish poet is too
limiting, since her writings embrace the gamut of human
suffering. Next, Seldes reads from a poem about the
genocide of Jews; Holst reads from "Job," which likens
the suffering prophet to the Jews; Lachman and Holst
discuss Sachs's enormous popularity in Germany; and
Holst reads from one of Sachs's poems about compassion.
The program concludes with a recording of Sachs
reading her own poetry. Commercials deleted.
(This series first aired on October 8, 1944, over WEAF
in New York.)
Cataloging of this program was made possible by The
Hearst Corporation, 1998.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: May 14, 1967 12:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:28:43
- COLOR/B&W: N/A
- CATALOG ID: R:1512
- GENRE: Radio - Religious; Radio - Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Jews - Politics and suffrage; Nobel prizes; Poetry
- SERIES RUN: NBC - Radio series, 1946-^
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Rhoda Grady … Producer
- Kenneth McGregor … Director
- Virginia Mazer … Writer
- David Patterman … Singer, For Introduction
- Jerry Damon … Host
- Norman Rose … Interviewer, Narrator
- Marian Seldes … Performer
- Spencer Holst … Performer, Guest
- Vera Lachman … Guest
- Nelly Sachs