Mirjam Pressler

Mirjam Pressler (1940–2019) translated the Diary of Anne Frank from Dutch and works by Amos Oz, Lizzie Doron, Batya Gur, and Zeruya Shalev from Hebrew into German. She also wrote novels for young people. Her books, among them Bitter Chocolate, November Cats, and Malka Mai, are painful personal accounts of fear, loneliness, disability, and food disorders. Yet despite this, they are filled with courage and hope.

Mirjam Pressler’s path toward becoming an award-winning children’s and young adult author and translator was by no means predetermined. Her life began in poverty, loneliness, and violence. As a teenager she dreamed of becoming a painter; later in life she came to writing. With great courage, she took her fate into her own hands and forged a lasting happiness.

The exhibition is dedicated to the great impact of Mirjam Pressler’s texts and pictures. It also, however, addresses motherhood, Israel, and Judaism—themes that shaped her life and work. Our interactive displays invite viewers to become creatively engaged.

The exhibition was curated by Dr. Franziska Krah with the support of Talitha Breidenstein. Its realization was made possible by the Cultural Fund Frankfurt RheinMain, the Ernst Max von Grunelius Foundation, the S. Fischer Foundation and the Anne Frank Fund Basel.