Yehiel De-Nur (Hebrew: יחיאל די-נור; De-Nur means 'of the fire' in Aramaic; also Romanized Dinoor, Di-Nur), also known by his pen name Ka-Tsetnik 135633, born Yehiel Feiner (16 May 1909 – 17 July 2001), was a Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor, whose books were inspired by his time as a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp. His work, written in Hebrew, tends to "blur the line between fantasy and actual events" and consists of "often lurid novel-memoirs, works that shock the reader with grotesque scenes of torture, perverse sexuality, and cannibalism".[1]
Yehiel De-Nur was born in Sosnowiec, Poland. He was a yeshiva pupil in Lublin and later supported Zionism. In 1931, he published a book of Yiddish poetry which he tried to destroy after the war.[1]
During World War II De-Nur spent two years as a prisoner in Auschwitz. In 1945, he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine, (later the State of Israel). He wrote several works in Hebrew about his experiences in the camp using his identity number at Auschwitz: Ka-Tsetnik 135633 (sometimes "K. Tzetnik").
Ka-Tsetnik (ק. צטניק) is Yiddish for "Concentration Camper" (deriving from "ka tzet", the pronunciation of KZ, the abbreviation for Konzentrationslager); 135633 was De-Nur's concentration camp number. He also used the name Karl Zetinski (Karol Cetinsky, again the derivation from "KZ") as a refugee, hence the confusion over his real name when his works were first published.[2]
De-Nur was married to Nina De-Nur, the daughter of Prof. Yossef (Gustav) Asherman, a noted Tel Aviv gynecologist. She served in the British Army as a young woman. Nina sought him out after reading his book Salamandra and eventually they were married. She was instrumental in the translation and publication of many of his books. They had two children, a son (Lior) and a daughter (Daniella), named after his sister Daniella from "House of Dolls", both still living in Israel. She trained with Virginia Satir in the 1970s. Later in life, Nina changed her name to Eli-Yah De-Nur.
In 1976, because of recurring nightmares and depression, De-Nur subjected himself to a form of psychedelicpsychotherapy promoted by Dutch psychiatrist Jan Bastiaans expressly for concentration camp survivors. The treatment included the use of the hallucinogen LSD, and the visions experienced during this therapy became the basis for his book, Shivitti.[3] The book's title is derived from David's Psalm 16:8, "Shiviti YHVH le-negdi tamid (שיויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד)," literally, "I have set YHVH before me always."
Yehiel De-nur died in Tel Aviv on 17 July 2001.
Testimony at Eichmann trial
His civic identity was revealed when he testified at the Eichmann Trial on 7 June 1961.[4] In his opening statement, Dinur presented a different opinion about the Holocaust than other well-known Holocaust writers (such as Elie Wiesel), by presenting the Holocaust as a unique and out-this-world event, saying: "I do not see myself as a writer who writes literature. This is a chronicle from the planet Auschwitz. I was there for about two years. The time there is not the same as it is here, on Earth. (…) And the inhabitants of this planet had no names. They had no parents and no children. They did not wear [clothes] the way they wear here. They were not born there and did not give birth... They did not live according to the laws of the world here and did not die. Their name was the number K. Tzetnik."[5]
After saying so, De-Nur collapsed and gave no further testimony.
In an interview on 60 Minutes, aired 6 February 1983, De-Nur recounted the incident of his fainting at the Eichmann trial to host Mike Wallace.
Was Dinur overcome by hatred? Fear? Horrid memories? No; it was none of these. Rather, as Dinur explained to Wallace, all at once he realized Eichmann was not the god-like army officer who had sent so many to their deaths. This Eichmann was an ordinary man. "I was afraid about myself," said Dinur. "... I saw that I am capable to do this. I am ... exactly like he."[6]
In Hannah Arendt's book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil the author implies that his fainting might have been due to the response of prosecutor Gideon Hausner and presiding judge Moshe Landau, who thought he detracted from the case at hand with the spectacular witness statement of his.
Literary career
De-Nur wrote his first book about the Auschwitz experience, Salamandra, over two and a half weeks, while in a British army hospital in Italy in 1945. The original manuscript was in Yiddish, but it was published in 1946 in Hebrew in edited form.[1]
House of Dolls
Among his most famous works was 1955's The House of Dolls,[7] which described the "Joy Division", a Nazi system keeping Jewish women as sex slaves in concentration camps. He suggests that the subject of the book was his younger sister, who did not survive the Holocaust. While De-Nur's books are still a part of the high-school curriculum, Na'ama Shik, a researcher at Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Israel, has claimed that The House of Dolls is pornographic fiction,[8] not least because sexual relations with Jews were strictly forbidden to all Aryan citizens of Nazi Germany. In addition, professor Yechiel Szeintuch has suggested that De-Nur did not have a sister at all.[9] In De-Nur's 1961 book Piepel, about Nazi sexual abuse of young boys, he suggests the subject of this book was his younger brother, who also died in a concentration camp.[10]
House of Dolls is at times pointed to as the inspiration behind the Nazi exploitation genre of serialized cheap paperbacks, known in Israel as Stalag fiction. Their publisher later acknowledged the Eichmann trial as the motive behind the series.[citation needed] The British rock band Joy Division derived its name from this book, which was quoted in their song "No Love Lost".
Published works
Salamandra, 1946; as Sunrise over Hell, translated by Nina Dinur, 1977
Beit habubot, 1953; as House of Dolls, translated by Moshe M. Kohn, 1955
Hashaon asher meal harosh (The Clock Overhead), 1960
Karu lo pipl (They called Him Piepel), 1961; as Piepel, translated by Moshe M. Kohn, 1961; as Atrocity, 1963; as Moni: A Novel of Auschwitz, 1963
Kokhav haefer (Star of Ashes), 1966; as Star Eternal, translated by Nina Dinur, 1972
Kahol miefer (Phoenix From Ashes), 1966; as Phoenix Over The Galilee, translated by Nina Dinur, 1969; as House of Love, 1971
Nidon lahayim (Judgement of Life), 1974
Haimut (The Confrontation), 1975
Ahavah balehavot, 1976; as Love in the Flames, translated by Nina Dinur, 1971
Hadimah (The Tear), 1978
Daniella, 1980
Nakam (Revenge), 1981
Hibutei ahavah (Struggling with Love), 1984
Shivitti: A Vision, translated by Eliyah Nike Dinur and Lisa Herman, 1989
Kaddish, (Contains Star Eternal plus essays written in English or Yiddish), 1998
Ka-Tzetnik 135633 (Yehiel De-Nur), House of Dolls (London: Grafton Books, 1985)
Ka-Tzetnik 135633 (Yehiel De-Nur), House of Love (London: W.H. Allen, 1971)
Ka-Tzetnik 135633 (Yehiel De-Nur), Moni: A Novel of Auschwitz (New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1963)
Ka-Tzetnik 135633 (Yehiel De-Nur), Phoenix Over The Galilee (New York: Harper & Row, 1969)
Ka-Tzetnik 135633 (Yehiel De-Nur), Shivitti: A Vision (California: Gateways, 1998)
Ka-Tzetnik 135633 (Yehiel De-Nur), Star Eternal (New York: Arbor House, 1971)
^Yechiel Szeintuc (2009), Salamandra: myth and history in Katzetnik's writings, Carmel Jerusalem.
^sandrawilliams.org, Sandra S. Williams, Ka-tzetnik's use of paradox, 1993.
Further reading
Anthony Rudolf, 'Ka-Tzetnik 135633,' in Sorrel Kerbel, Muriel Emanuel and Laura Phillips (eds.), Jewish Writers of the Twentieth Century (London: Routledge, 2003), p. 267
"Holocaust History and the Readings of Ka-Tzetnik", Bloomsburry publishing, Annette F. Timm, 25 January 2018 (Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Calgary, Canada).
External links
Media related to Yehiel Dinur at Wikimedia Commons
Project Nizkor: The Trial of Adolf Eichmann, Session 68, evidence of Yehiel Dinur
Article in Haaretz
Isaac Hershkowitz, Asmodeus and Nucleus on Planet Auschwitz: Katzetnik’s Theological and Demonological Kabbalah, a paper presented at the International Workshop: Ka-Tzetnik: The Impact of the First Holocaust Novelist in Israel and Beyond, University of Calgary, 10–12 March 2013.
January 06, 2023
yehiel, hebrew, יחיאל, די, נור, means, fire, aramaic, also, romanized, dinoor, also, known, name, tsetnik, 135633, born, yehiel, feiner, 1909, july, 2001, jewish, writer, holocaust, survivor, whose, books, were, inspired, time, prisoner, auschwitz, concentrati. Yehiel De Nur Hebrew יחיאל די נור De Nur means of the fire in Aramaic also Romanized Dinoor Di Nur also known by his pen name Ka Tsetnik 135633 born Yehiel Feiner 16 May 1909 17 July 2001 was a Jewish writer and Holocaust survivor whose books were inspired by his time as a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp His work written in Hebrew tends to blur the line between fantasy and actual events and consists of often lurid novel memoirs works that shock the reader with grotesque scenes of torture perverse sexuality and cannibalism 1 Yehiel De NurDe Nur and his wife in Rome 1959Bornיחיאל די נור 1909 05 16 May 16 1909Sosnowiec Congress PolandDiedJuly 17 2001 2001 07 17 aged 92 Tel Aviv IsraelNationalityPolish IsraeliOther namesKa Tsetnik 135633OccupationWriterSpouseNina De NurChildren2 Yehiel De Nur testifies at the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961 Contents 1 Biography 2 Testimony at Eichmann trial 3 Literary career 3 1 House of Dolls 4 Published works 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksBiography EditYehiel De Nur was born in Sosnowiec Poland He was a yeshiva pupil in Lublin and later supported Zionism In 1931 he published a book of Yiddish poetry which he tried to destroy after the war 1 During World War II De Nur spent two years as a prisoner in Auschwitz In 1945 he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine later the State of Israel He wrote several works in Hebrew about his experiences in the camp using his identity number at Auschwitz Ka Tsetnik 135633 sometimes K Tzetnik Ka Tsetnik ק צטניק is Yiddish for Concentration Camper deriving from ka tzet the pronunciation of KZ the abbreviation for Konzentrationslager 135633 was De Nur s concentration camp number He also used the name Karl Zetinski Karol Cetinsky again the derivation from KZ as a refugee hence the confusion over his real name when his works were first published 2 De Nur was married to Nina De Nur the daughter of Prof Yossef Gustav Asherman a noted Tel Aviv gynecologist She served in the British Army as a young woman Nina sought him out after reading his book Salamandra and eventually they were married She was instrumental in the translation and publication of many of his books They had two children a son Lior and a daughter Daniella named after his sister Daniella from House of Dolls both still living in Israel She trained with Virginia Satir in the 1970s Later in life Nina changed her name to Eli Yah De Nur In 1976 because of recurring nightmares and depression De Nur subjected himself to a form of psychedelic psychotherapy promoted by Dutch psychiatrist Jan Bastiaans expressly for concentration camp survivors The treatment included the use of the hallucinogen LSD and the visions experienced during this therapy became the basis for his book Shivitti 3 The book s title is derived from David s Psalm 16 8 Shiviti YHVH le negdi tamid שיויתי ה לנגדי תמיד literally I have set YHVH before me always Yehiel De nur died in Tel Aviv on 17 July 2001 Testimony at Eichmann trial EditHis civic identity was revealed when he testified at the Eichmann Trial on 7 June 1961 4 In his opening statement Dinur presented a different opinion about the Holocaust than other well known Holocaust writers such as Elie Wiesel by presenting the Holocaust as a unique and out this world event saying I do not see myself as a writer who writes literature This is a chronicle from the planet Auschwitz I was there for about two years The time there is not the same as it is here on Earth And the inhabitants of this planet had no names They had no parents and no children They did not wear clothes the way they wear here They were not born there and did not give birth They did not live according to the laws of the world here and did not die Their name was the number K Tzetnik 5 After saying so De Nur collapsed and gave no further testimony In an interview on 60 Minutes aired 6 February 1983 De Nur recounted the incident of his fainting at the Eichmann trial to host Mike Wallace Was Dinur overcome by hatred Fear Horrid memories No it was none of these Rather as Dinur explained to Wallace all at once he realized Eichmann was not the god like army officer who had sent so many to their deaths This Eichmann was an ordinary man I was afraid about myself said Dinur I saw that I am capable to do this I am exactly like he 6 In Hannah Arendt s book Eichmann in Jerusalem A Report on the Banality of Evil the author implies that his fainting might have been due to the response of prosecutor Gideon Hausner and presiding judge Moshe Landau who thought he detracted from the case at hand with the spectacular witness statement of his Literary career EditDe Nur wrote his first book about the Auschwitz experience Salamandra over two and a half weeks while in a British army hospital in Italy in 1945 The original manuscript was in Yiddish but it was published in 1946 in Hebrew in edited form 1 House of Dolls Edit Among his most famous works was 1955 s The House of Dolls 7 which described the Joy Division a Nazi system keeping Jewish women as sex slaves in concentration camps He suggests that the subject of the book was his younger sister who did not survive the Holocaust While De Nur s books are still a part of the high school curriculum Na ama Shik a researcher at Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Israel has claimed that The House of Dolls is pornographic fiction 8 not least because sexual relations with Jews were strictly forbidden to all Aryan citizens of Nazi Germany In addition professor Yechiel Szeintuch has suggested that De Nur did not have a sister at all 9 In De Nur s 1961 book Piepel about Nazi sexual abuse of young boys he suggests the subject of this book was his younger brother who also died in a concentration camp 10 House of Dolls is at times pointed to as the inspiration behind the Nazi exploitation genre of serialized cheap paperbacks known in Israel as Stalag fiction Their publisher later acknowledged the Eichmann trial as the motive behind the series citation needed The British rock band Joy Division derived its name from this book which was quoted in their song No Love Lost Published works EditSalamandra 1946 as Sunrise over Hell translated by Nina Dinur 1977 Beit habubot 1953 as House of Dolls translated by Moshe M Kohn 1955 Hashaon asher meal harosh The Clock Overhead 1960 Karu lo pipl They called Him Piepel 1961 as Piepel translated by Moshe M Kohn 1961 as Atrocity 1963 as Moni A Novel of Auschwitz 1963 Kokhav haefer Star of Ashes 1966 as Star Eternal translated by Nina Dinur 1972 Kahol miefer Phoenix From Ashes 1966 as Phoenix Over The Galilee translated by Nina Dinur 1969 as House of Love 1971 Nidon lahayim Judgement of Life 1974 Haimut The Confrontation 1975 Ahavah balehavot 1976 as Love in the Flames translated by Nina Dinur 1971 Hadimah The Tear 1978 Daniella 1980 Nakam Revenge 1981 Hibutei ahavah Struggling with Love 1984 Shivitti A Vision translated by Eliyah Nike Dinur and Lisa Herman 1989 Kaddish Contains Star Eternal plus essays written in English or Yiddish 1998 Ka Tzetnik 135633 Yehiel De Nur House of Dolls London Grafton Books 1985 Ka Tzetnik 135633 Yehiel De Nur House of Love London W H Allen 1971 Ka Tzetnik 135633 Yehiel De Nur Moni A Novel of Auschwitz New Jersey Citadel Press 1963 Ka Tzetnik 135633 Yehiel De Nur Phoenix Over The Galilee New York Harper amp Row 1969 Ka Tzetnik 135633 Yehiel De Nur Shivitti A Vision California Gateways 1998 Ka Tzetnik 135633 Yehiel De Nur Star Eternal New York Arbor House 1971 Ka Tzetnik 135633 Yehiel De Nur Sunrise Over Hell London W H Allen 1977 References Edit a b c David Mikics 19 April 2012 Holocaust Pulp Fiction Tablet Magazine archived Tom Segev Haaretz 27 July 2001 Maps org The Trial of Adolf Eichmann Session 68 Part 1 of 9 Nizkor Project 7 June 1961 Translated to English by Tomer Golan link to the trial testimony on YouTube Getz Gene 2004 The Measure of a Man Twenty Attributes of a Godly Man Gospel Light Publications p 141 ISBN 0830734953 House of Dolls Beit ha bubot novelguide com 2002 Israel s Unexpected Spinoff From a Holocaust Trial Isabel Kershner New York Times 6 September 2007 Yechiel Szeintuc 2009 Salamandra myth and history in Katzetnik s writings Carmel Jerusalem sandrawilliams org Sandra S Williams Ka tzetnik s use of paradox 1993 Further reading EditAnthony Rudolf Ka Tzetnik 135633 in Sorrel Kerbel Muriel Emanuel and Laura Phillips eds Jewish Writers of the Twentieth Century London Routledge 2003 p 267 Holocaust History and the Readings of Ka Tzetnik Bloomsburry publishing Annette F Timm 25 January 2018 Associate Professor in the Department of History at the University of Calgary Canada External links Edit Media related to Yehiel Dinur at Wikimedia Commons Project Nizkor The Trial of Adolf Eichmann Session 68 evidence of Yehiel Dinur Article in Haaretz Isaac Hershkowitz Asmodeus and Nucleus on Planet Auschwitz Katzetnik s Theological and Demonological Kabbalah a paper presented at the International Workshop Ka Tzetnik The Impact of the First Holocaust Novelist in Israel and Beyond University of Calgary 10 12 March 2013 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Yehiel De Nur amp oldid 1107171387, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
