We Refugees Archive

Erich Auerbach an Johannes Oeschger, 27.5.1938

Von den vollkommensten Menschen unter ihnen, die hier gelandet sind, die 30 Professoren, überwiegend Naturforscher und Mediziner, sind in gutem Zustand und es geht ihnen von Tag zu Tag besser. […] Dazu kommen Einladungen aus der Schweiz, England und vor allem den USA, die die Türken stark beeinflusst haben. All dies steht jedoch auf einem sehr wackeligen Fundament und was passieren wird, hängt vor allem von der sich verschlechternden “Allgemeinen Lage” ab. Dieses Land kann nur auf Basis eines starken Drucks standhalten, und Sie wissen, wie die Lage gerade hier im Südosten ist.

„Einige“ würden uns von hier vertreiben, wenn sie die Macht hätten. Zweifellos werden in einem solchen Fall auch hier Feinde nicht fehlen. Natürlich gibt es noch mehr von ihnen, aber ihre Stimmen kommen vorerst nicht zum Vorschein. Die Fundamentalisten misstrauen uns, weil wir Ausländer sind, die Faschisten misstrauen uns, weil wir im Exil sind, die Antifaschisten misstrauen uns, weil wir Deutsche sind. Es gibt auch noch Antisemitismus. […]

Was ist menschlich?

Es gibt hier niemanden, der beurteilen kann, was der Mensch kann oder was er ist. Höchstens die Vorkehrung für die Genauigkeit und Geläufigkeit der französischen Sprache können sie geben. Aber wie gesagt, es ist noch alles gut.

Erich Auerbach to Johannes Oeschger, 27.5.1938

Of the most perfect people among them who have landed here, the 30 professors, mostly natural scientists and physicians, are in good condition and are doing better day by day. […] In addition, there are invitations from Switzerland, England and especially the USA, which have greatly influenced the Turks. However, all this is on a very shaky foundation and what will happen depends mainly on the deteriorating “general situation.” This country can only stand on the basis of strong pressure, and you know how the situation is right here in the Southeast.

“Some” would drive us out of here if they had the power. Undoubtedly, in such a case, enemies will not be in short supply here either. Of course, there are more of them, but their voices do not come out for the time being. The fundamentalists distrust us because we are foreigners, the fascists distrust us because we are exiles, the anti-fascists distrust us because we are Germans. There is also antisemitism. […]

What is human?

There is no one here who can judge what man can do or what he is. At the most, they can give the provision for the accuracy and fluency of the French language. But as I said, it’s still all good.

Erich Auerbach was a German Romance philologist, literary and cultural scholar. As for countless others, his career in Germany was ended prematurely due to the racist “Law on the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service,” ratified on April 7, 1933, which aimed at both the removal of Jewish civil servants and the dismissal of political “dissidents.” Since the so-called Frontkämpferprivileg (Privilege of Combatants) applied to him and he additionally even swore an “oath of loyalty of German civil servants” to Adolf Hitler in 1934, he lost his chair of Romance philology at the University of Marburg “only” at the end of 1935. 11All information according to the file Erich Auerbach in the State Archives Marburg Sign. 310, Acc 1978/15, No. 2261. cited in: Martin Vialon: Erich Auerbach. On the Life and Work of the Marburg Romance Scholar in the Time of Fascism. In: Jörg Jochen Berns (ed.): Marburg-Bilder. A Matter of Opinion. Zeugnisse aus fünf Jahrhunderten (= Marburger Stadtschriften zur Geschichte und Kultur, 52 (vol. 1), 53 (vol. 2)). Rathaus-Verlag, Marburg 1996, pp. 394-395. More than foreseeable, however, he contacted colleagues in Italy, England, and other places already in the course of 1935 in order to find a suitable position, even far below the rank of professor. Thanks to the interdenominational and anti-racist self-help organization “Notgemeinschaft deutscher Wissenschaftler im Ausland,” founded in 1933 22Johannes Feichtinger: Wissenschaft zwischen den Kulturen. Österreichische Hochschullehrer in der Emigration 1933-1945. Campus-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2001, p. 71. which from 1933 onward focused on emigration to Turkey, he finally followed the call to the İstanbul Üniversitesi. The latter had been founded in 1933 as part of the Kemalist program of Westernization and modernization, and one of its tasks was to recruit experts. In this way, several hundred German intellectuals and their families emigrated to Turkey, especially to the urban centers of Istanbul and Ankara, where they became involved in the work of the universities and ministries. Since Auerbach’s hopes of returning to a chair at a German university remained unfulfilled, he emigrated from Turkey to the United States in 1947, where he continued his academic career and became a US citizen. He is still one of the most important representatives of his field today. His main work, written in Istanbul between 1942 and 1945, Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature is one of the fundamental works of German Romance studies.

Footnotes

• 1All information according to the file Erich Auerbach in the State Archives Marburg Sign. 310, Acc 1978/15, No. 2261. cited in: Martin Vialon: Erich Auerbach. On the Life and Work of the Marburg Romance Scholar in the Time of Fascism. In: Jörg Jochen Berns (ed.): Marburg-Bilder. A Matter of Opinion. Zeugnisse aus fünf Jahrhunderten (= Marburger Stadtschriften zur Geschichte und Kultur, 52 (vol. 1), 53 (vol. 2)). Rathaus-Verlag, Marburg 1996, pp. 394-395.
• 2Johannes Feichtinger: Wissenschaft zwischen den Kulturen. Österreichische Hochschullehrer in der Emigration 1933-1945. Campus-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2001, p. 71.

Vialon, Martin, 2010: Yabanın Tuzlu Ekmeği, Erich Auerbach’tan Seçme Yazılar, Metis Yayınları. pp. 305-306.

Translation into German and English: We Refugees Archive Team.