Photo: Alessandro Belgiojoso
The Making of a Bestseller
Januaria Piromallo Sheds Light on a Sad Chapter of WWII Her full name is Donna Marchesa Piromallo Capece Piscicelli di Montebello dei duchi di Capracotta. But Januaria Piromallo is more than just a pretty aristocratic face. BY ALEXIS MUNIER
The journalist, blogger, and author has been writing for the largest Italian magazines for the past twenty years, She’s also served as an anchorman on Italian television, taught for the Masters in Journalism program at the University of Naples, and writes for www.ilfattoquotidiano.it (the Italian equivalent of The Huffington Post). Ms Piromallo is also a regular contributor to GSTAADLIFE. But her latest triumph is Il Sacrificio di Éva Izsák, The Sacrifice of Éva Izsák, already in its second printing. Inspired by true events, The Sacrifice of Éva Izsák reveals the real-life story–and tragic death–of Éva Izsák, a young Hungarian Jewish girl who fought with the Resistance during World War II. In Piromallo’s story, which is based on fact, Eva falls under the spell of famous Jewish intellectual and philosopher Imre Lakatos and is forced to
choose between committing suicide and letting another person perish. GSTAADLIFE spoke with Ms Piromallo at the launch of the book in Milan, and at her home here in the Saanenland. GSTAADLIFE: What prompted you to write this story? PIROMALLO: One would think that everything has already been said and written about the period of Nazi terror. But there is one untold story which has been hidden for almost seventy years. GL: How did you find out about this forgotten part of history? JP: I was married to Albrecht von Meister, who is descended from an old Prussian family. We spent the last 18 summers with our two children in the old family castle in Plausdorf, Germany. The von Meisters were victims of Hitler – the Nazis confiscated the family’s chemical company, Hoechst, the flagship of the German chemical industry in the 1920's. It was here, amongst old family books and photographs, that I found a manuscript which chilled me to the bone.
GL: Why was this story kept secret? JP: This story has never been divulged before. The Jewish community I was in touch with made it clear that the whole story should be forgotten. I respected this wish for many years. But now that all of the witnesses are gone, I felt that I was no longer bound to keep the story a secret. And I kept my promise to Imre Toth, colleague of Lakatos, who confirmed every detail of this tremendous story. His dying wish was that I tell the world the truth. They might not believe it, he said, but I should try. So I wrote The Sacrifice of Éva Izsák as justice, to begin to right the wrongs of this terrible act of manipulation and coersion which cost poor Ms Izsak her life. The book is available online and at Cadonau, Gstaad. The Grand Hotel Park will open its "cocktail littéraire" with a presentation and booksigning by Ms Piromallo.
LIFESTYLE // GSTAADLIFE // ISSUE 8 // DECEMBER 30, 2014
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