This is an automatically translated description

The greatest value of this biography lies in its strictly documentary nature. Every event, every detail is based on the memories, reflections, and "knots" of memory of people from the close circle of the young Celan, which enhances the authenticity of this biography, makes it a reliable source of evidence about the poet, a model of scientific integrity and historical accuracy. More than 50 people from this circle - relatives, friends, school and university friends, beloved girlfriends of the poet - were the subjects of the author's interviews. Until the publication of this book, researchers of Celan's work had to be content with a "dry skeleton of known biographical dates". Thanks to the efforts of Israel Halfen, the poet's young years appear in all their plasticity, colours, and completeness, and from now on, the doors to Celan's world are wide open for the Ukrainian reader.