Diti Ronen & Tal Ronen, Anne Birkenhauer: Little Thrush

Decades later, the Israeli poet Diti Ronen sets out to uncover her mother’s story. Auschwitz, Stutthof, several labour camps and a death march had left deep wounds; they were scarcely ever spoken of. What remained were fragments of memory, isolated images and a profound silence. From these, the daughter created the long poem ‘Little Thrush’ – a poetic voice for what her mother had been unable to put into words throughout her life.

The title itself speaks to this process of remembrance. Diti Ronen’s mother spoke only broken Hebrew and always referred to the bird using a grammatically ‘incorrect’ gender. In the German translation, this was deliberately rendered as a thrush. Thus the bird remains female – just as vulnerable and threatened as the five women whose fate the poem preserves.

At the Jewish Culture Days, ‘Little Thrush’ becomes a polyphonic space of remembrance. Diti Ronen reads her poem in Hebrew, whilst Anne Birkenhauer reads the German translation. Tal Ronen’s double bass creates a musical resonance in which the unspeakable becomes audible.

Thus, three generations come together: the mother’s memory, the daughter’s language and the grandson’s music. Literature and music enter into a powerful dialogue and give a voice to the silence.

Diti Ronen is one of the most significant voices in contemporary Israeli poetry. The poet and editor has received numerous awards, including the Art Prize (2024), the ACUM Award (2022) and the Kugel Award (2016).

Tal Ronen lives in New York, where he works as a double bassist. He moves between jazz tradition and contemporary music and has collaborated with artists such as Frank Wess, Jimmy Cobb, James Moody, Max Roach and Sheila Jordan. As the bassist for the Grammy-winning singer Catherine Russell, he regularly performs on international stages such as Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Centre, the Village Vanguard and Birdland.

Anne Birkenhauer has lived in Jerusalem as a literary translator since 1989. She has translated works by Yehuda Amichai, Dan Pagis, Agi Mishol, David Grossman, Zeruya Shalev, Aharon Appelfeld, Tomer Gardi and many other authors into German. In 2018, she was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for her services to the promotion of Hebrew literature.

• With Diti Ronen – author, Hebrew reading
• Tal Ronen – double bass
• Anne Birkenhauer – translation, German reading and moderator