Lesung & Gespräch mit Agnieszka Lessmann ("Aga")

Reading & Discussion with Agnieszka Lessmann, author of *Aga*

Aga and her parents changed continents and names twice. Following the anti-Semitic agitation in Poland in 1968, her journey took her via Israel to Germany—to the “land of murderers,” as she calls it. At the Jewish community center, the girl searches for the murderers, aided by TV detective Erik Ode. She grows up surrounded by American soldiers, hippies, and childlike imagination. A murder brings the family’s hidden legacy to light. Step by step, Aga fills in the gaps of the past and rediscovers her true name. An autofictional novel about the silence following the Shoah and the difficult path to healing.

Agnieszka Lessmann was born in Łódź and grew up in Poland, Israel, and Germany. She began working as a cultural journalist and writer while still a student. In addition to numerous works for radio, she wrote poems and short stories. Her first poetry collection,*Fluchtzustand*, was published in 2020 by Elif Verlag. In 2025, she received a creative writing fellowship from the German Literature Fund for her work on her second poetry collection, *Schieferbruchverse*. *Aga* is her first novel.