25th Anniversary of the Death of Jurek Becker

Jurek Becker was born on September 30, 1937 in Łódź, Poland, and died on March 14, 1997 in Sieseby/Schleswig-Holstein. From 1939 to 1945 Becker grew up in the Łódź Ghetto and was later imprisoned in the concentration camps of Ravensbrück and Sachsenhausen. In 1945 he moved to East Berlin where he studied Philosophy at Humboldt University from 1957 to 1960. In 1960 Becker was barred from studying further for political reasons and thus transferred to film school in Babelsberg. Becker is the author of numerous screenplays. His first novel Jacob the Liar was published in 1969 and became known throughout the world. Jurek Becker’s work was awarded numerous prizes, including the Grimme Prize and the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.