Dagmar Hilarová (1928–1996)

Dagmar Hilarová, née Berzetti, was born to a Jewish family in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and began writing poetry as a teenager. In 1943, during the Nazi Occupation of her country in World War II, she was deported at age 14 to the concentration camp at Theresienstadt (Terezin). She survived to be liberated and returned to Prague, where she held various jobs in agriculture, health and film production. In 1947, she married Ežen Hilar, who had also been at Theresienstadt. She wrote poetry, stories, song lyrics, and children's books, many of which were translated into many languages and set to music by composers. She published more than 60 books and contributed articles to various newspapers and magazines in Czechoslovakia and abroad. She also translated the works of German poets into Czech. Her memoir Nemám žádné jméno (I Have No Name, 2012), a fragment published posthumously, is a testimony of the Holocaust considered comparable to that of Anne Frank.