Nelly Sachs

Nelly Sachs was born and lived in Germany before fleeing the Nazi regime into Sweden in 1940. An accomplished poet, she primarily dealt with the suffering of the Jews, and explored their fate of persecution, exile, oppression, and death in a highly modern poetic style. Sachs’ most famous works include the poem “O die Schornsteine” (O the Chimneys, 1967), and the play Eli: Ein Mysterienspiel vom Leiden Israels (Eli: A Mystery Play of the Sufferings of Israel, 1951). Her collections include In den Wohnungen des Todes (In the House of Death, 1947), Sternverdunkelung (Eclipse of Stars, 1949), and Flucht und Verwandlung (Flight and Metamorphosis, 1959). She received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1966.