Oskar Pastior (Romanian pronunciation:[ˈoskarpasˈtjor]; 20 October 1927 – 4 October 2006) was a Romanian-born German poet and translator. He was the only German member of Oulipo.
After having been under surveillance by the Securitate for 4 years, Pastior became an informer for the Securitate in 1961 with the alias "Otto Stein".[1] This became known in 2010, years after his death.
The Hunger Angel, the 2009 novel of Nobel Prize-winning author Herta Müller, is based partly upon Pastior's experiences as a forced laborer in the USSR.[2] Initially, Pastior and Müller had planned to write a book about his experiences together, but he died in 2006.[3]
Herta Müller was "horrified" and "bitter" after the revelations about her colleague and friend Pastior. She was initially shocked, even angry, then felt sympathy and sadness. She said in an interview that it was terrible when you learn something dark and barely comprehensible about someone you thought you knew that was kept from you. But she also thought that Pastior, as a homosexual, was vulnerable and susceptible to blackmail. In Romania, homosexuality was punishable by several years in prison.[4]