In the organizer's words:

📖 "I will survive, because I am a will" - book presentation

Bela Winkens was born Bela Heymann in Berlin in 1941. Her parents and grandparents were deported to concentration camps in 1942 and 1943 and murdered. Bela had previously been sent to relatives in the Ruhr area, but was herself deported to Theresienstadt following a denunciation. She was adopted by a Düsseldorf couple in 1946.

It was only many decades later, in 1996, that Bela Winkens found the opportunity to record her memories: In a fictitious letter to her murdered mother, she wrote the book "Letter to her Mother". The event will take place shortly after her 85th birthday.

Irina Scholz will read selected text passages. Gabi Bauer and Peter Piro, who recently published the book with Verbrecher Verlag Berlin, will talk about their research into Bela Winkens' life story and the creation of the book.

Moderation: Dr. Enno Stahl (Heinrich Heine Institute)

In cooperation with the Mahn- und Gedenkstätte der Stadt Düsseldorf and the Heine-Salon e.V.