Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
family, Minco began work as a trainee journalist on the ''Bredasche Courant'' in 1938. Her real surname was Menco, but an official accidentally switched the first vowel. Following the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, and even before proclamation by the occupying forces of anti-Jewish measures, she was fired by order of the newspaper's
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
-sympathizing board.
In the early part of World War II Minco lived in
Breda
Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...
,
Amersfoort
Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the second- ...
, and
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
. She contracted a mild form of
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
and ended up being treated in hospitals in
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
and Amersfoort. In the autumn of 1942 she returned to Amsterdam and her parents, who were forced by the German occupiers to move into the city's Jewish Quarter.
Later in the war, Minco's parents, her brother, and her sister were all deported, but having escaped arrest herself she spent the rest of the war in hiding and was the family's only survivor. She also received a new name, Marga Faes, the first part of which she continued to use. Minco married the poet and translator Bert Voeten (who died in 1992) whom she had met in 1938 and with whom she hid during the war. After the war, they worked on a number of newspapers and magazines. They have two daughters, one of whom is the writer Jessica Voeten. She turned 100 in March 2020.
Work
In 1957 Minco published her first book, ' ("The bitter herb"), in which a nameless character goes through war experiences reminiscent of the author's. The title of her later book ''Een leeg huis'' ("An empty house") refers not only to the demolished house that the protagonist finds after emerging from hiding at the end of the occupation but also to the emptiness that she and her friend Yona experience in the postwar years, to which was added the distance and sometimes even hostility displayed by many people in the Netherlands towards returnees from the
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
s. This phenomenon was further described by Marga Minco in her collection of short stories, ''De andere kant'' ("The other side").
Existentialism
Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and valu ...
imposes a special tightness on her work. The main characters, often survivors of the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
, experience their lives as meaningless. Often, they have survived the war only by a series of coincidences, while their loved ones have been murdered. Frieda Borgstein, for example, in the novella ''De val'' ("The Fall"), manages by chance to survive the whole war without falling into the hands of the Nazis who have taken her husband's life. She dies, nevertheless, just before her 85th birthday, by falling accidentally into an unprotected well.
Bibliography
* ''Het bittere kruid – een kleine kroniek'' (1957) (The bitter herb – a little chronicle)
* ''Het adres'' (1957) (The address)
* ''De andere kant'' (collection) (1959) (The other side)
* ''Tegenvoeters'' (with Bert Voeten) (1961) (Antipodeans)
* ''Kijk 'ns in de la'' (1963) (Have a look in the drawer)
* ''Het huis hiernaast'' (1965) (The house next door)
* ''Terugkeer'' (1965) (Return)
* ''Een leeg huis'' (1966) (An empty house)
* ''Het bittere kruid / Verhalen / Een leeg huis'' (1968) (The bitter herb / Stories / An empty house)
* ''De trapeze 6'' (with Mies Bouhuys) (1968)
* ''De dag dat mijn zuster trouwde'' (1970) (The day my sister got married)
* ''Meneer Frits en andere verhalen uit de vijftiger jaren'' (1974) (Mr Frits and other stories from the fifties)
* ''Je mag van geluk spreken'' (in ''
Bulkboek Bulkboek (formerly BulkBoek) is a Dutch organization that promotes the reading and study of literature. It began in the early 1970s by issuing cheap reprints of Dutch classic literary works, printed on newsprint in a tabloid newspaper format, for wh ...
'' 46, 1975) (Talk about lucky)
* ''Het adres en andere verhalen'' (1976) (The address and other stories)
* ''Floroskoop – Maart'' (1979) (Floroscope – March)
* ''Verzamelde verhalen'' 1951–1981 (1982) (Collected stories)
* ''De val'' (1983) (The fall)
* ''De glazen brug'' ( ''Boekenweekgeschenk'' 1986) (The glass bridge)
* ''De glazen brug'' (with Loe de Jong): ''De joodse onderduik'') (1988) (The glass bridge / Jews in hiding)
* ''De zon is maar een zeepbel, twaalf droomverslagen'' (1990) (The sun is but a soap bubble, twelve dream reports)
* ''De verdwenen bladzij – verhalenbundel voor kinderen'' (1994) (The missing page – stories for children)
* ''Nagelaten dagen'' (1997) (Bequeathed days)
* ''De schrijver'' (a literary relay with
Harry Mulisch
Harry Kurt Victor Mulisch ( ; 29 July 1927 – 30 October 2010) was a Dutch writer. He wrote more than 80 novels, plays, essays, poems, and philosophical reflections. Mulisch's works have been translated into over thirty languages.
Along with Wi ...
,
Gerrit Komrij
Gerrit Jan Komrij (30 March 1944 – 5 July 2012) was a Dutch poet, novelist, translator, critic, polemic journalist and playwright. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s writing poetry that sharply contrasted with the free-form poetry of his ...
,
Adriaan van Dis
Adriaan van Dis (Bergen aan Zee, 16 December 1946) is a Dutch author. He debuted in 1983 with the novella ''Nathan Sid''. In 1995 his book ''Indische Duinen'' (''My Father's War''), which in its narrative is a follow up to his debut novella, wa ...
,
Maarten 't Hart
Maarten 't Hart (born 25 November 1944 in Maassluis) is a Dutch writer. Trained as a biologist in zoology and ethology at the Leiden University, he taught that subject before becoming a full-time writer in the 1980s, having made his debut as a ...
,
Remco Campert
Remco Campert (28 July 1929 – 4 July 2022) was a Dutch author, poet and columnist.
Early years
Remco Wouter Campert was born in The Hague, son of writer and poet Jan Campert, author of the poem ''De achttien dooden'', and actress Joekie Bro ...
,
Hugo Claus
Hugo Maurice Julien Claus (; 5 April 1929 – 19 March 2008) was a leading Belgian author who published under his own name as well as various pseudonyms. Claus' literary contributions spanned the genres of drama, the novel, and poetry; he also l ...
, and
Joost Zwagerman
Johannes Jacobus Willebrordus "Joost" Zwagerman (18 November 1963 – 8 September 2015) was a Dutch writer, poet and essayist. Among his teachers was the novelist Oek de Jong.
Early life and education
Johannes Jacobus Willebrordus Zwagerm ...
) (2000) (The writer)
* ''Decemberblues'' (2003)
* ''Storing'' (stories) (2004)
* ''Een sprong in de tijd'' (essay written for the
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in t ...
ceremony in
Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam
The Nieuwe Kerk (, ''New Church'') is a 15th-century church in Amsterdam located on Dam Square, next to the Royal Palace. Formerly a Dutch Reformed Church parish, it now belongs to the Protestant Church in the Netherlands.
Current uses
The Nieuwe ...
, and delivered by her daughter Jessica Voeten) (2008) (A leap in time)
Awards
* 1957 – Bureau voor Postreclame en Adressen De Mutator N.V. Short-story Prize for ''Het adress''
* 1958 – Vijverberg Prize for ''Het bittere kruid''
* 1999 – Annie Romein Prize for her entire oeuvre
* 2005 –