The writer, who survived deportation and concentration camps, on the occasion of the release of her new book talks about her relationship with the Pontiff: 'She has a way of presenting herself that moves you, even when she laughs. It was like an instant love match”

Edith Bruck, 91, with Pope Francis in their meeting last year

'It appeared in all its whiteness, a giant talking cotton candy.' This is how Edith Bruck talks about Jorge Mario Bergoglio in an interview with the weekly Today (on newsstands tomorrow). The writer, who survived the Shoah, talks about her relationship with the Pontiff on the occasion of the release of her new book I am Francesco (The Ship of Theseus). Edith, born 91 years ago into a Jewish family in Hungary, a survivor of deportation and concentration camps, including those of Auschwitz and Dachau, received a visit from her Holiness in her Roman home on 20 February last year.

Chanel Totti and the catchphrase with dad Francesco in the super villa Chanel Totti and the catchphrase with dad Francesco in the super villa

THE MEETING - Bruck recounts that meeting in this way: «We embraced. I felt the human warmth in him, and that loving child in him. I broke into a big cry. Pope Francis has a way of presenting himself so rich in humanity that he moves you, even when he laughs. It was like an instant love encounter.' She then tells of the “five lights, those gestures of humanity that gave her the strength to survive the extermination camps, where she was deported at the age of 13. She also brought them to mind with the Pope, including «a cook who asked my name and gave me a comb. Then a surreal thing happened: the Pope repeated the same gesture, put his hand in an imaginary pocket and offered me an imaginary comb. He added that he would have liked to be that cook ».

BLACK CLOUD - Edith has always been committed to bearing witness to the drama of the Holocaust. “Sometimes I thought about suicide. But I understood that our life does not belong only to us, but also to those who died in the concentration camps », she tells Today . «The Pope, coming to my house, sent a message to the world: his gesture represented an important rapprochement between Christians and Jews. A warning to stay away from hatred, an invitation to dialogue'. The writer confides in Today also his thoughts on the victory of the right in the recent elections. 'It worries me. Giorgia Meloni who proclaims herself Christian and Matteo Salvini who exhibits Christian symbols perform empty boasting and gestures of blasphemy. I don't know what political choices will be made on the reception of migrants and on rights, I know that democracy is a delicate exercise, it is also an inner journey. And then I'm also concerned about the growth of the right in Europe: it's like a black cloud advancing».

Source: oggi.it