Jiří Orten

Czech poet and nephew of the anarchist poet Josef Rosenzweig-Moir. The foremost representative of the so-called 'war generation' in Czech literature, he was never a member of any artistic group, but his work was influenced by existentialism, surrealism and folklore. His first collection of poems, 'Čítanka Jaro' (Reader of Spring), was published in 1939. With the Nazi occupation, and being a Jew, his freedom was extremely restricted and he published his next book, 'Cesta k Mrazu' (Journey towards frost; 1940), under the pseudonym Karel Jílek and the long poem 'Jeremiášuv Plác' (The Lamentations of Jeremiah; 1940) was signed Jiří Jakub. Forced to give up writing, he worked as a labourer on a farm and later survived by taking odd jobs. 'Ohníč' (Challock; 1941) was work last published in his lifetime as on August 30, 1941, the day of his twenty-second birthday, Jirí Orten was knocked down in a Prague street by a German ambulance. A friend took him to the General Infirmary in Prague, but as a Jew, Orten could not be treated there and had to be moved to a different hospital. Two days later, he died.