Die Buche: the invisible choir of German-Jewish poets from Bukovina

Abstract

In 2009 an editorial project that had been secret for many years came to light: an anthology that brings together the voices of the community of German speaking Bukovini poets of Jewish confession. The collection, with the title Die Buche. Eine Anthologie deutschsprachiger Judendichtung aus der Bukowina wad edited by Alfred Margul-Sperber. With the collaboration, among others, of Rose Ausländer and Alfred Kittner, 364 texts by 32 authors were selected. The geopolitical events involving Bukovina in those years together with the persecution of the Jews interrupted the publication of the volume, suspending the life of that German-speaking Jewish cultural community and destining it to an inexorable process of oblivion. This article follows the editorial events of the anthology, keeping track of its downsizing: it tries to think about the reasons why numerous authors were cut off and traces the common characteristics to a plurality of texts, highlighting the identifying character of the collection.