The Emperor of Lies
Book presentation and discussion

In February 1940, the Nazis established what would become the second-largest Jewish ghetto, in the Polish city of Lodz. The leader they appointed was Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, a sixty-three-year-old Jewish businessman and orphanage director.
In the novel The Emperor of Lies, Swedish writer Steve Sem-Sandberg chronicles the tale of Rumkowski's monarchical rule over a quarter-million Jews. Driven by a titanic ambition, Rumkowski sought to transform the ghetto into a productive industrial complex and strove to make it – and himself – indespensable to the Nazi regime. These compromises would have extraordinary consequences not only for Rumkowski but everyone living in the ghetto.
Drawing on detailed records of life in Lodz, Sem-Sandberg captures the full panorama of human resilience and probes deeply into the nature of evil. Was Rumkowski a ruthless opportunist, ann accessory to the Nazi regime motivated by a lust for power? Or was he a pragmatist who managed to save Jewish lives through his collaboration policies?
THE EMPEROR OF LIES
Book presentation and discussion
In conversation:
Steve Sem-Sandberg
Martin Pollack
Reading:
Ulrich Matthes
Time: Monday 24 Oktober 2011, 19:00
Place: Hauptbücherei am Gürtel
1070 Urban-Loritz-Platz 2a, Vienna
Language: German and English
On the speakers
Steve Sem-Sandberg is a Swedish novelist and essayist living in Stockholm and Vienna. The The Emperor of Lies has been translated into numerous languages, including English and German (Die Elenden von Lodz). In 2009, Sem-Sandberg was awarded both De Nios Stora Pris and the August Prize, two of Sweden's most prestigious literary awards.Martin Pollack is an Austrian journalist, writer und translator. His latest book, Kaiser von Amerika. Flucht aus Galizien was this year awarded the Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding.
Ulrich Matthes is an actor born in Berlin, well-known for his roles in films such as Aimée & Jaguar, Der neunte Tag and Downfall. He has been awarded the Bavarian Film Prize and the Faust Theatre Prize.
New essay by Steve Sem-Sandberg
Eurozine has publish a new formidable essay by Steve Sem-Sandberg in which he questions the many dos and above all don'ts surrounding literature about the Holocaust.
Read the essay Even nameless horrors must be namedThis event is a cooperation of Eurozine with IWM, Klett-Cotta, Hauptbücherei Wien and the Swedish Embassy in Vienna.

Published 2011-10-03
Original in English
© Eurozine












