Marking 100 years of Arnošt Lustig: international festival celebrates humanity
Arnošt Lustig, one of the great figures of Czech literature, would have turned 100 next year. On the occasion, FestivAL100 will celebrate his enduring legacy. His powerful message of humanity, even in the darkest of times, resonates to this day, attracting readers both at home and abroad.
As a child, Arnošt Lustig survived Auschwitz, and the horrors he witnessed during the Holocaust profoundly shaped his writing. Already in the 1950s, he wrote about experiences many were not yet ready to confront. Drawing on his time in the Terezín ghetto, he wrote Night and Hope (1958), followed by Diamonds of the Night (1958). In the 1960s, he published Dita Saxová (1962), and A Prayer for Katerina Horowitzova (1964), which was nominated for the National Book Award.
Reflecting the universal reach of his work, Arnošt Lustig’s centenary was added to UNESCO’s list of significant anniversaries for 2026/27. The International FestivAL100 will take place in ten countries across four continents, featuring exhibitions and events, special anniversary editions of Lustig’s world-renowned and previously unpublished works, and educational programmes for students. The festival will be held under the auspices of Czech President Petr Pavel, among many other supporters.
The grand opening of the festival began with a round-table discussion at the Václav Havel Library in Prague. Among the speakers and audience were many who remember him personally. The prevailing sentiment was that his name - Lustig, meaning “funny” or “cheerful” in German - suited him perfectly, as he remained energetic and full of humour throughout his life. Echoing this, his daughter Eva Lustigová, co-founder of the Arnošt Lustig Foundation, the main organiser of the festival, said in her opening speech:
“I think that even though Arnošt is not here, he is certainly present. Seriously cheerful. Cheerfully serious. And sometimes just seriously serious, which was always the case when he wrote.”
In a similar vein, literary historian and author Michal Bauer remarked that:
“He was a force of nature. We all know that on one side there was the ‘lustig’ and on the other the ‘ernst’ (serious). And at his core was the tragedy and all the horrors he experienced, which are present in his texts.”
Literary scholar Tomáš Kubíček added that, despite the repeating theme of the Holocaust, Lustig’s work is ultimately about humans. The humanity of his characters is always apparent. They act in complex and contradictory ways and are always individuals rather than symbols.
"Seriously cheerful. Cheerfully serious. And sometimes just seriously serious, which was always the case when he wrote.”
It is precisely this focus on human complexity that gives his work its enduring relevance and allows readers to engage so deeply with it. Reflecting on Lustig’s lasting message of hope, journalist and writer Karel Hvížďala noted:
“In every situation he found a glimpse of hope. And in times when society seems so dystopian, perhaps that is the most important thing we need.”
Arnošt Lustig spent much of his life in the United States. Following the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia, he and his wife Věra Lustigová emigrated via Yugoslavia to Israel, and then on to the US, where he taught at American University in Washington. According to participants in the panel discussion, he never fully settled in the US and was happy to return to Czechoslovakia after 1989. He died in 2011.
Full details of the events taking place as part of FestivAL100 are available on the Arnošt Lustig Foundation’s website.
