Romanian writer’s Catalin Mihuleac’s latest book has been praised at the International Book Fair in Leipzig, Germany and was deemed one of the best books of the year.
The book entitled ” Oxenberg & Bernstein” ( Romanian title ” America over the massacre”) has been published in Romanian and German language. The book was translated by Ernest Wichner, who was nominated for the translation award at the Leipzig fair.
The book is focused on the massacre of 13,000 jews in Iasi 1941. The book presents the story of two families, one story is set in post-communist times and the second one in 1941. Mihuleac has met and befriended survivors of the Holocaust.
According to rfi.ro there were some negative reactions to the novel, such as the fact that some bookshops refused to sell his book. For this reason, German translator Wichner was not sure about taking this project. In the end, he decided to translate the novel in order to contribute to history and to bring more acknowledgment about the fascist time period.
At this year’s International Book Fair, where Catalin Mihuleac was invited, Romania has been an honorary guest. The Leipzig fair this year opened with a special event which allowed Germany to discover more of Romania’s literature. Although every year the fair only had 2-3 Romanian books on show, this year over 40 translated books was in focus. 2600 exhibitors from 48 countries were present this year in Leipzig and the fair was visited by over 300,000 people.
sources:
positivenewsromania.com 
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