Ivan Ivanji - In Memoriam

As in previous years, Ivan Ivanji would have read from a new novel at this year's Kunstfest Weimar: “The Loneliness of the Minority”. Shortly after completing it, he, who survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald, who as a diplomat, theater man, writer, translator and political commentator accompanied the hope for détente and peace after 1945 and fought unceasingly against the whitewashing of nationalism and ethnic-authoritarian politics, died in Weimar on May 9. A few hours earlier, he had attended the opening of the “Museum of Forced Labor under National Socialism” at the Buchenwald Memorial. Ivan Ivanji, who lived in Belgrade, had been a frequent guest in Weimar since 1995. He has repeatedly inspired and delighted many in the city, which eventually made him an honorary citizen, with his courage, his clear words against all forms of misanthropy, his Habsburg charm and his joie de vivre. His son Andrej and local friends will read from his works and, moderated by Christina Bacher, will remember him: Minister President Bodo Ramelow, Andrea Dietrich, Ulrike Greim, Volkhard Knigge, Philipp Neumann-Thein. The event will open with a specially created short film essay by Siegfried Ressel and Hannes Richter.