הסופר וניצול השואה אהרן אפלפלד על כתיבה ספרותית כמעשה אמנות והזכרות

Aharon Appelfeld shares his point of view on how and why he writes his books. He views literature as an artistic expression and an act of remembrance and how he turns to his childhood memories of struggling to survive the Holocaust in his writing process. Shachaf Dekel interviews Aharon Appelfeld in his home office in Jerusalem. Aharon Appelfeld (born Ervin Appelfeld; February 16, 1932 – January 4, 2018) was an Israeli novelist and Holocaust survivor. Many Holocaust survivors have written an autobiographical account of their survival, but Appelfeld does not offer a realistic depiction of the events. He writes short stories that can be interpreted metaphorically. Instead of his personal experience, he sometimes evokes the Holocaust without even relating to it directly. His style is clear and precise but also very modernistic. Appelfeld resided in Israel but wrote little about life there. Most of his work focuses on Jewish life in Europe before, during, and after World War II. As an orphan from a young age, searching for a mother figure is central to his work. During the Holocaust, he was separated from his father and only met him again 20 years later.