Прагалық Эсперантист баласы: Петр Гинздің трагедиясы

Czech Esperantist

Petr Ginz (1 February 1928 – 28 September 1944) was a Czechoslovak boy of partial Jewish background who was deported to the Theresienstadt Ghetto (known as Terezín, in Czech) during the Holocaust. He was murdered at the age of sixteen when he was transferred to Auschwitz concentration camp and gassed to death upon arrival. His diary was published after his death.

Ginz was the son of Otto Ginz, the manager of the export department of a Prague textile company and a notable Esperantist, and Marie Ginz (née Dolanská). Ginz's father was Jewish, while his mother was not. His parents met at an Esperantist congress. His mother was from Hradec Králové, where her father was a village teacher. Ginz received frequent visits from his relatives during Christmas holidays, including his grandfather, who owned an antique and rare book shop in Jungmann Square. Ginz was a very intelligent boy. Between the ages of 8 and 14 he wrote five novels: From Prague to China, The Wizard from Altay Mountains, Around the World in One Second and A Visit from Prehistory — the only surviving novel. The novels, including Návštěva z pravěku , were written in the style of Jules Verne and illustrated with his own paintings. He was interested in the sciences and yearned for knowledge. Due to his parents' interest in Esperanto, that language was one of Petr's native languages (the other being Czech). According to the anti Jewish laws of the Third Reich, children from mixed marriages were to be deported to a concentration camp at the age of 14. Young Ginz was transported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in October 1942. His efforts in sciences and thirst for knowledge remained and he tried to study even in the concentration camp. He often read from a library full of confiscated books to which he had access. He was placed in Domov č.1 (Home No. 1, building L417). He established and prepared for publication the periodical magazine Vedem, which means "We Lead". He also wrote an Esperanto–Czech dictionary as well as several other short novels that have since been lost. One such piece of writing is called "Rambles through Theresienstadt" in which he interviews people and comments on people, buildings, and even the crematorium. The breadth of his interests, abilities, and character are shown by his remaining writings and by the testimonials of friends who survived. He was interested in literature, history, paintings, geography, sociology, and the technical fields. The magazine Vedem was published every Friday for two years. destroying the copy of Ginz's drawing on what would have been his 75th birthday. In 2018, 15 years after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, another copy was given by Yad Vashem to Ilan's widow, Rona, to give to astronaut Andrew Feustel. Feustel carried it to space during Expedition 56 in memory of Ginz and Ramon. Feustel's video message commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) 2018/5778 featured the astronaut displaying Ginz's depiction of a view of Earth from the Moon. On February 1, 2020, Feustel gifted one of the copies of “Moon Landscape” brought to space to the Czech Center Museum Houston.

The asteroid 50413 Petrginz was named in his honour. In 2005 the Czech Post edited a 31 KČ stamp with the Moon drawing and a portrait in remembrance of Petr Ginz. A Stolperstein by German artist Gunter Demnig was installed in his honor in Prague. His life was commemorated in a 2012 documentary film, The Last Flight of Petr Ginz, directed by Sandra Dickson and Churchill Roberts. His story is commemorated in a 2018 song, For Petr and Ilan, on Does the Land Remember Me? by Ben Fisher.