SOURCE: Kluback, William. “Fondane Found His Jewishness.” In Benjamin Fondane: A Poet in Exile, pp. 113-26. New York: Peter Lang, 1996.

In the essay which follows, Kluback discusses Fondane's role as a poet in exile, closely examining the biblical influence on his work.

In February of 1944, the poet Benjamin Fondane gave the writer Jean Grenier a manuscript, Le Lundi existentiel et le dimanche de l'histoire (Existential Monday and the Sunday of History). Fondane never read the proofs. He was betrayed by his concierge; he was denounced to the Nazis. At the same time, “his sister Linie was arrested by the French police and transported to the camp at Drancy. His friends, Paulhan, Lupasco, Cioran, intervened with the authorities to obtain his release. They succeeded, but they couldn't obtain Linie's freedom. Fondane chose to go with his sister. From Drancy, he sent his wife instructions for an edition of his...