Ida Simons (1911–1960)
Author of A Foolish Virgin
About the Author
Works by Ida Simons
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Simons, Ida
- Legal name
- Simons-Rosenheimer, Ida
- Other names
- Berchem, C.S. van
Berchem, Clara Serena van - Birthdate
- 1911-03-11
- Date of death
- 1960-06-27
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- pianist
auteur
dichter
poet
novelist
musician (show all 7)
Holocaust survivor - Short biography
- Ida Simons was born Ida Rosenheimer to a well-to-do Jewish merchant family in Antwerp, Belgium. Her parents Moritz (Maurits) Rosenheimer and his wife Constance Vecht brought her up to speak Flemish, German, English, Dutch and Yiddish. She went to The Netherlands with her parents as a small child during World War I. After completing her musical studies in London and Paris, she made her debut as a concert pianist at age 19. She received great acclaim and performed with many leading European orchestras. In 1933, she married David Simons, a lawyer, with whom she had a son. As a pianist, Ida continued to perform under the name Rosenheimer. Her career was brought to an abrupt halt by the Nazi Occupation of World War II. With her family, she was interned at Kasteel de Schaffelaar and Westerbork, and deported to the concentration camp at Theresienstadt. She survived the war, but her health was broken, forcing her to abandon her ambitions as a pianist in 1953. By this time, she had begun writing. She made her debut as a poet in 1946 with the collection Wrange oogst (Bitter Harvest). It was followed by a volume of novellas entitled Slijk en sterren (Muck and Stars), published in 1956 under the pseudonym C.S. van Berchem. Her best-known work is probably the semi-autobiographical novel Een dwaze maagd (A Foolish Virgin), which first appeared in 1959. After her untimely death at age 49, her work sank into oblivion, but since its revival in 2014, it has been translated into more than 15 languages and published widely.
- Nationality
- Nederland
- Birthplace
- Antwerpen, België
- Places of residence
- The Hague, Netherlands
- Place of death
- Scheveningen, Zuid-Holland, Nederland
- Burial location
- Joodse begraafplaats, Wassenaar, Zuid-Holland, Nederland
- Associated Place (for map)
- The Hague, Netherlands
Members
Reviews
"....humour is the colourful piece of cloth made to cover a wound".
Simon´s humour relies on the juxtaposition between the quick eye of a 12 year old girl who picks up everything that goes on around her and the immature voice and analyzing apparatus of the innocent with which she tells and interprets what is happening around her. The reader of course understands, and the differences between the child´s and the grown up´s interpretation comes across as very, very funny.
"The Foolish show more Virgin", the book´s title and the fact that the author of the girl who remembers, Ida Simons survived the concentration camp both at Westerbork and Theresienstadt, are the only things that gives away the book´s serious theme.
"The Foolish Virgin" is an allusion to the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Mathew 25). The parable begins: “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to..... " What Simon describes through the voice of Gittel, is a paradise; people are poor, but live good lives, the "catastrophes" are the ups-and-downs of daily life, that really are of no consequence. People want it to be so, the harsher side of reality are not confronted. When Gittel`s friend Aaron dies from polio, death is elaborately hidden from her. None of her memories touches anything near the dark political reality her family´s story is set within, being a jew in a growing anti-Semitic Europe which, again of course reflects the community´s (active) lack of interest. The one person that nearly uncovers the truth about Aaron, tells her not to grow up as "a foolish virgin", is considered mad by the rest of the community. They are collectively like the " "virgins who forgot to bring oil to the lamps".....
Ida Simons define what foolishness is: This is not a book about a child´s innocence, child innocence is used to reflect how unaware the Jewish communities of Europe was when WWII came. It is a picture of the innocence of the blind, of the ostrich. She points the finger at the same thing which later became Hannah Arendt´s message. show less
Simon´s humour relies on the juxtaposition between the quick eye of a 12 year old girl who picks up everything that goes on around her and the immature voice and analyzing apparatus of the innocent with which she tells and interprets what is happening around her. The reader of course understands, and the differences between the child´s and the grown up´s interpretation comes across as very, very funny.
"The Foolish show more Virgin", the book´s title and the fact that the author of the girl who remembers, Ida Simons survived the concentration camp both at Westerbork and Theresienstadt, are the only things that gives away the book´s serious theme.
"The Foolish Virgin" is an allusion to the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins (Mathew 25). The parable begins: “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to..... " What Simon describes through the voice of Gittel, is a paradise; people are poor, but live good lives, the "catastrophes" are the ups-and-downs of daily life, that really are of no consequence. People want it to be so, the harsher side of reality are not confronted. When Gittel`s friend Aaron dies from polio, death is elaborately hidden from her. None of her memories touches anything near the dark political reality her family´s story is set within, being a jew in a growing anti-Semitic Europe which, again of course reflects the community´s (active) lack of interest. The one person that nearly uncovers the truth about Aaron, tells her not to grow up as "a foolish virgin", is considered mad by the rest of the community. They are collectively like the " "virgins who forgot to bring oil to the lamps".....
Ida Simons define what foolishness is: This is not a book about a child´s innocence, child innocence is used to reflect how unaware the Jewish communities of Europe was when WWII came. It is a picture of the innocence of the blind, of the ostrich. She points the finger at the same thing which later became Hannah Arendt´s message. show less
Narrator Gittel looks back to her life aged 12/13 in a Dutch Jewish family. It's the 1920s and the family are flawed and comical- squabbling parents, Mother going back to stay with her family in Antwerp at regular intervals.
Here Gittel befriends the much older Lucie Mardell; flattered by her friendship, Gittel is - obviously to the reader but not Gittel- embraced as a 'chaperone' to allow a romance to continue unremarked.
Mildly interesting, evokes a time and an era; the sadness comes from show more the knowledge of the author spending time in Westerbork Concentration Camp. One can certainly read this as an allegory of the blindness and 'foolishness' of those Jews who didnt realise what was being planned all around them (although no mention of politics/ antisemitism enters the story.)
As a 2020 reader, one thinks too of the pandemic hoax being currently rolled out onto as credulous and eager-to-believe-the-propaganda populace... show less
Here Gittel befriends the much older Lucie Mardell; flattered by her friendship, Gittel is - obviously to the reader but not Gittel- embraced as a 'chaperone' to allow a romance to continue unremarked.
Mildly interesting, evokes a time and an era; the sadness comes from show more the knowledge of the author spending time in Westerbork Concentration Camp. One can certainly read this as an allegory of the blindness and 'foolishness' of those Jews who didnt realise what was being planned all around them (although no mention of politics/ antisemitism enters the story.)
As a 2020 reader, one thinks too of the pandemic hoax being currently rolled out onto as credulous and eager-to-believe-the-propaganda populace... show less
In haar boek Een dwaze maagd geeft Ida Simons een inkijk in het leven van gegoede Joodse gezinnen in Den Haag en Antwerpen in de jaren twintig van de vorige eeuw. Het boek draagt een sterk autobiografisch karakter. Met veel humor beschrijft zij haar Joodse omgeving.
Short and sweet, a cross between the narration of To Kill A Mockingbird and the plot of The Go Between, with a poignant hidden depth of meaning. Must read again for the details I probably missed!
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Statistics
- Works
- 6
- Members
- 169
- Popularity
- #126,056
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 7
- ISBNs
- 31
- Languages
- 8
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