Miklós Lorsi (died October 1944) was a Jewish Hungarian violinist who was killed during the Holocaust.[1][2] The manner of his death, and allusion to his art as a violinist formed the line "already taut, a string about to snap" in the last poem of Miklós Radnóti.[3][4][5][6][7]

During October 1944 Lorsi was part of a 3,200 person death march.[8] At one point during the march the SS ordered everyone to lie down, and then began shooting randomly.[9] Lorsi was shot, and when they were ordered to continue marching, Lorsi was bleeding and having difficulty walking.[9] While he was being helped along by his friend Miklós Radnóti, an SS officer shot Lorsi in the back of the neck, killing him.[8] The poem touches on the violinist's art and compares his death to the death of his violin.[10][11][12] Radnóti himself was killed shortly afterwards.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Slyomovics, Susan (1998). The Object of Memory: Arab and Jew Narrate the Palestinian Village. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 260 n. 61. ISBN 978-0-8122-1525-0.
  2. ↑ McRobbie, Kenneth (1985). Under Gemini, a Prose Memoir and Selected Poetry. Corvina Kiadó. p. 8. ISBN 978-963-13-0457-2.
  3. ↑ Miklós Radnóti: the complete poetry Miklós Radnóti, Emery Edward George - 1980 "A mounted SS trooper summoned Miklos Lorsi, the musician, to himself. He took his violin and shot at him. ... Miklos Lorsi, a talented musician who at Lager Heidenau played music both popular and classical, was not a distinguished ..."
  4. ↑ Zsuzsanna Ozsváth In the footsteps of Orpheus: the life and times of Miklós Radnóti p216 2000 "When the column was ordered to get up and start walking, Miklos Lorsi, a violinist, who had been shot, rose up and tried to march on as well. But he couldn't stand on his feet. Bleeding profusely, he could hardly move. "
  5. ↑ James McCorkle Conversant essays: contemporary poets on poetry 1990 p383 "His last poem was written for a fellow-slave, a violinist named Miklos Lorsi, who died a day or two before him. Here it is: / fell beside him, his body rolling over, already taut, a string about to snap. Shot in the neck. "
  6. ↑ Susan Slyomovics The object of memory: Arab and Jew narrate the Palestinian village p260 1998 "Her stunning example of poetry as evidence is by Miklos Radnoti, whose final poem described the death of a fellow prisoner, Miklos Lorsi. Both were Hungarian Jews shot during the final days of World War II. A piece of paper containing ..."
  7. ↑ The writer in politics 1996 p143 William H. Gass, Lorin Cuoco - 1996 "This verse describes the death of his fellow prisoner, Miklos Lorsi, a violinist, and remains the only trace of his dying. Such monstrosity has come to seem almost normal. It becomes easier to forget than to remember, ..."
  8. 1 2 Dwork, Debórah; Jan van Pelt, Robert (2003). Holocaust: A History. W. W. Norton & Company. pp. xvii–xviii. ISBN 978-0-393-32524-9.
  9. 1 2 Ozsváth, Zsuzsanna (2000). In the Footsteps of Orpheus: The Life and Times of Miklós Radnóti. Indiana University Press. pp. 37–40. ISBN 978-0-253-33801-3.
  10. ↑ Charles Kenneth Williams Poetry and consciousness 1998 p137 "On October 8, 1944, the Hungarian poet Miklos Radnoti watched as his friend and fellow labor camp prisoner, the violinist Miklos Lorsi, was shot by the SS, then shot again — "Der springt noch auf" ("He's still kicking") — finally to "
  11. ↑ Acta litteraria Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 16 Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, Akadémiai Kiadó - 1974 "Als die SS das Gemetzel satt bekam, ertönte von neuem ein Befehl: antreten zu zweien, in der Mitte des Weges. Miklós Lorsi blutete, er lebte aber noch. Er versuchte aufzustehen. - DER SPRINGT NOCH AUF!"
  12. ↑ Under Gemini, a prose memoir and selected poetry Miklós Radnóti, Kenneth McRobbie - 1985 p107 earlier published in The Canadian-American review of Hungarian studies 6 Hungarian Readers' Service - 1979 "On my ear, blood dried, mixed with filth." 3 (Translated by E. George) The death described was not yet his own, it was the last moment of Miklos Lorsi, a fellow inmate, a formerly celebrated violinist, to which the tragic simile, comparing the dying body to a taut string, alludes. The poem marks the last station on the poet's long march that started with his induction.."
  13. ↑ Writers and their craft: short stories & essays on the narrative p383 Nicholas Delbanco, Laurence Goldstein - 1991 "Miklos Radnoti. He was shot in the head and buried in a mass grave at Abda, a small village in western Hungary. He had been an inmate, a slave, ... His last poem was written for a fellow-slave, a violinist named Miklos Lorsi,
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