New York, 9.12.1957
Sehr geehrte Herren!
In Beantwortung Ihres Schreibens vom 15.11.1957 teile ich Ihnen hierdurch folgendes höflichst mit:
1) Meine standesamtliche Eheschliessung mit dem Dirigenten und Komponisten Chemjo Vinaver 11Ehemann von Mascha Kaléko und Musiker (1895–1973). fand am 28. Juni 1938 in Berlin statt.
2) Die Gründe, aus denen ich erst im Jahre 1938 auswandern konnte, wird, so hoffe ich, die Darstellung der folgenden Tatsachen aufzeigen:
Da ich von Beginn an die Ziele und Methoden der nationalsozialistischen Bewegung genau verfolgt hatte, war ich mir sofort nach der Machtergreifung darüber im Klaren, dass für die Juden im allgemeinen keine Zukunftsaussichten in Deutschland mehr bestünden. Dazu kam in meinem speziellen Falle die Einsicht, dass ich, auf Grund der neben meiner beruflichen Tätigkeit bei der Gemeinde entfalteten schriftstellerischen Tätigkeit, über kurz oder lang wie alle in deutscher Sprache schreibenden Dichter jüdischer Abstammung besonderer Verfolgung ausgesetzt sein würde. So fasste ich bereits im Jahre 1934 den Entschluss auszuwandern. Da ich nicht damit rechnen konnte, sofort eine Einwanderungsmöglichkeit in ein anderes Land zu finden und die Wartezeit für die Vorbereitung auf einen entsprechenden Beruf ausnützen wollte, der mir in einem fremden Lande eine Erwerbsmöglichkeit bieten würde, gab ich zu dem Zeitpunkt, da ich mich grundsätzlich zur Auswanderung entschloss, also im Jahre 1934, meine Stellung bei der Jüdischen Gemeinde Berlin, die ich 10 Jahre lang innegehabt hatte, auf, um mich der Vorbereitung und Bewerkstelligung der Auswanderung zu widmen.
Diese Tatsache ist auch von dem damaligen Verwaltungsdirektor der Jüdischen Gemeinde Berlin, Herrn Dr. Walter Breslauer, in seiner Bescheinigung vom 16.III.1954 bestätigt worden. Diese Bescheinigung befindet sich bei den Akten, und ich darf deshalb auf sie verweisen. Als mein Auswanderungsziel hatte ich Palästina ins Auge gefasst.
Es gelang mir aber trotz meiner Bemühungen nicht, das erforderliche Zertifikat für die Einwanderung in dieses Land zu erhalten, und es wurde mir eröffnet, dass ich in jedem Falle einige Zeit bis zur Erteilung der Einwanderungsgenehmigung warten müsste. Ich benutzte diese Zeit, um mich auf einen entsprechenden Beruf vorzubereiten, und trat zu diesem Zwecke im Jahre 1934 in die Reklamefachschule Reimann in Berlin ein, wo ich Kurse in Werbetechnik, Werbe-Text, Bildredaktion, Graphik, etc. nahm. Eine Berufsumschichtung auf diesem Gebiete lag für mich nahe, da ich keinerlei praktische Begabung hatte, hingegen etwas von der Kunst des Schreibens von Werbe-Texten verstand. Mit dieser Ausbildung in der Reimannschule verband ich das Studium der hebräischen Sprache, deren Kenntnis für die Einwanderung in Palästina unerlässlich schien.
Als meine Bemühungen, das Einwanderungszertifikat zu erlangen, im Laufe des Jahres 1934 erfolglos blieben, beantragte ich ein Besucher-Visum für Palästina. Dieses wurde mir bewilligt, und so fuhr ich im Frühjahr 1935 nach Palästina in der Hoffnung, an Ort und Stelle vielleicht etwas für meine Einwanderung dorthin erreichen zu können. Auch diese Bemühungen erwiesen sich jedoch als vergeblich, und ich musste nach einigen Monaten unverrichteter Dinge nach Berlin zurückkehren.
Mein Entschluss, Deutschland zu verlassen, war aber unverändert, wenn nicht verstärkt, bestehen geblieben. Ich richtete meine Anstrengungen nun vornehmlich auf die Erlangung eines Visums für USA. Zu diesem Zwecke nahm ich auch an den Intensiv-Kursen für Auswanderer teil, die von der Reichsvertretung deutscher Juden eingerichtet worden waren, da eine Aussicht bestand, das amerikanische Visum zu erlangen, wenn es einem gelang, einen Affidavit-Geber 22Mit dem Affidavit ist eine Bürgschaftserklärung gemeint, mit der Bürger*innen und Organisationen in einem Aufnahmeland, zum Beispiel den USA, bei der Beschaffung von Einreiseerlaubnissen für Verfolgte im nationalsozialistischen Deutschland und dem von ihn besetzten Gebieten helfen konnten. zu finden.
Da ich im Jahre 1936 die Geburt meines Kindes 33Mascha Kalékos Sohn Evjatar Alexander Michael Vinaver, dessen Name in Exil in Steven Vinaver (1936-1968) geändert wurde. erwartete, und meine Auswanderung auch noch aus anderen Gründen äusserst dringend geworden war, bemühte ich mich verzweifelt um eine Emigrationsmöglichkeit. Ich wandte mich sogar an wildfremde Menschen im Auslande – zunächst ohne Erfolg. Dann hörte ich, dass in dringlichen Fällen einige in Palästina ansässige amerikanische Bürger sich bereit gefunden hatten, Leuten meiner Art ein Affidavit zu geben, und ich beschloss, diesen Versuch zu machen. Und so reiste ich denn, kaum, dass ich mein Kind der Betreuung anderer überlassen konnte, im April 1938 wiederum nach Palästina, um mich dort um die Erlangung eines Affidavits für das amerikanische Visum zu bemühen. Ich nahm Empfehlungen der Ehefrau des jetzigen Staatskontrolleurs des Staates Israel, Dr. Siegfried Moses, an die betreffenden amerikanischen Juden dort mit.
Im Frühjahr 1938 erhielten wir endlich ein Affidavit, und im Herbst 1938, im gleichen Jahre, wurde uns das Einwanderungsvisum vom amerikanischen Konsulat in Berlin erteilt, sodass ich nunmehr Deutschland verlassen konnte.
New York, 9 December 1957
Dear Sirs!
In reply to your letter of 15 November 1957 I hereby inform you of the following:
1) My civil marriage to the conductor and composer Chemjo Vinaver 11Husband of Mascha Kaléko and musician (1895-1973). took place in Berlin on 28 June 1938.
2) The reasons why I was not able to emigrate until 1938 will, I hope, be explained by the following facts:
Since I had closely followed the aims and methods of the National Socialist movement from the very beginning, I was aware immediately after their seizure of power that there were generally no prospects for Jews for a future in Germany. In addition, in my particular case, I came to the realization that, due to my literary activity in addition to my professional work for the [Jewish] community, I would sooner or later be exposed to particular persecution, like all poets of Jewish descent who wrote in German. So I decided to emigrate as early as 1934. Since I could not expect to find an immediate opportunity to immigrate to another country, and since I wanted to take advantage of the waiting time to prepare for a corresponding profession which would offer me a possibility of earning a living in a foreign country, I gave up my position with the Jewish Community of Berlin, which I had held for 10 years, at the time when I decided to emigrate in principle, i.e. in 1934, in order to devote myself to preparing and managing my emigration.
This fact was also confirmed by the then Administrative Director of the Jewish Community Berlin, Dr. Walter Breslauer, in his certificate of 16.III.1954. This certificate can be found in the files, and I may therefore refer to it. I had Palestine in mind as my emigration destination.
However, despite my efforts, I was not able to obtain the necessary immigration certificate to that country, and it was made clear to me that I would in any case have to wait some time until the immigration permit would be issued. I used this time to prepare myself for an appropriate profession, and for this purpose I entered the technical college for advertising (Reklamefachschule) Reimann in Berlin in 1934, where I took courses in advertising technology, advertising text, picture editing, graphics, etc. A change of profession in this area seemed obvious to me, as I had no practical talent whatsoever, but I did understand something of the art of writing advertising texts. With this training in the Reimann School I combined the study of the Hebrew language, the knowledge of which seemed to be indispensable for the immigration to Palestine.
When my efforts to obtain the immigration certificate were unsuccessful in 1934, I applied for a visitor visa to Palestine. I was granted one, and so in the spring of 1935 I went to Palestine in the hope of being able to do something on the spot for my immigration there. But even these efforts proved to be in vain, and I had to return to Berlin after a few months without having achieved anything.
However, my decision to leave Germany remained unchanged, if not strengthened. I now focused my efforts primarily on obtaining a visa for the USA. To this end, I also participated in the intensive courses for emigrants that had been set up by the Reich Representation of German Jews (Reichsvertretung deutscher Juden), since there was a prospect of obtaining the American visa if one succeeded in finding an affidavit donor. 22The affidavit is a declaration of guarantee with which citizens and organizations in a destination country, for example the USA, could help in obtaining entry permits for persecuted persons in National Socialist Germany and the territories occupied by it.
Since I was expecting the birth of my child 33Mascha Kaléko’s son Evjatar Alexander Michael Vinaver, whose name was changed to Steven Vinaver (1936-1968) in exile. in 1936, and since my emigration had become extremely urgent for other reasons as well, I desperately tried to find a possibility to emigrate. I even turned to complete strangers abroad – without success at first. Then I heard that in urgent cases some American citizens living in Palestine had agreed to give an affidavit to people of my kind, and I decided to make that attempt. And so, as soon as I was able to leave my child in the care of others, I traveled to Palestine again in April 1938 to try to obtain an affidavit for the American visa. I took recommendations from the wife of the present State Controller of the State of Israel, Dr. Siegfried Moses, to the American Jews there.
In the spring of 1938 we finally received an affidavit, and in the fall of 1938, the same year, we were granted an immigrant visa by the American Consulate in Berlin, so that I could now leave Germany.
Mascha Kaléko (1907-1975) was a poet. She was born in western Galicia (today Poland). After the outbreak of World War I, her family fled to Germany out of fear of anti-Jewish pogroms. Mascha Kaléko was seven years old. Early on she followed her vocation as a poet and mingled in the Berlin artistic milieu. Many of her poems deal with everyday life in Berlin. In 1935, however, the National Socialists imposed a ban on Kaléko. At first she did not want to leave Berlin, but in 1938 the situation became unbearable: she fled to New York with her second husband, the musician Chemjo Vinaver, and her young son. The family found it difficult to gain a foothold in New York. Kaléko finds small jobs and writes for the German-Jewish emigrant newspaper Aufbau, among others. In 1945, her book of poetry “Verses for Contemporaries” is published in the USA in German. In 1959 she and her husband moved to Israel.
In the works that we show in our archive, Kaléko deals with her experiences of refugeedom, her homesickness for Berlin, and her identity as a Jew, refugee, poet, and emigrant. The rupture that the loss of language as a result of emigration to the USA meant especially for her as a poet can be felt in many of her poems.
Her letter to the Federal Restitution Authority (Bundesstelle für Entschädigung) dated 9 December 1957 was part of a long process in which Mascha Kaléko had been seeking material compensation for her losses due to Nazi persecution since 1951. 11On Mascha Kaléko’s efforts to make amends, see Rosenkranz, Jutta, 2016: “Ich habe manchmal Heimweh. Ich weiss nur nicht, wonach …”. Mascha Kaléko. Dichterin und Emigrantin, pp. 7-11 in: Aktives Museum Mitglieder Rundbrief 74, https://www.gedenktafeln-in-berlin.de/uploads/tx_tafeln//Mascha_Kaleko_Aktives_Museum_Rundbrief_74_Jan_2016.pdf (02.07.2020). Although the restitution regulations of the Federal Republic of Germany, which were unified in the 1950s to form the Federal Law on Restitution for Victims of National Socialist Persecution (Bundesgesetz zur Entschädigung der Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung), made it possible, in principle, to provide material compensation for many persecuted persons, they were highly problematic due to tight application deadlines, the high level of bureaucracy, difficult obligations to provide evidence, and the exclusion of many persecuted groups (e.g. as so-called “asocials”, Sinti and Roma, homosexuals, communists). 22For a comprehensive overview of German reparation policy, see Hockerts, Hans Günther: Wiedergutmachung in Deutschland 1945-1990. An overview, in bpb, 07.06.2013, https://www.bpb.de/apuz/162883/wiedergutmachung-in-deutschland-19451990-ein-ueberblick?p=all (02.07.2020). Mascha Kaléko sought reparations from various German authorities for herself and her husband Chemjo Vinaver, at least part of which was paid to her in 1959. During her stay in Berlin in the spring of 1956, she had met with the Berlin Senator of the Interior and head of the compensation office Lipschitz, “so that I could discuss with him the urgency and extraordinary nature of our two destroyed artistic careers.” 33Kaléko, Mascha, 1956: An Chemjo Vinaver, Berlin, 23.3.1956, pp. 312 ff. in: Mascha Kaléko: Sämtliche Werke und Briefe in vier Bänden. Volume II – Letters 1932-1962, edited and commented by Jutta Rosenkranz © 2012 dtv Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, Munich.
The letter of December 1957 provides information about Kaléko’s emigration efforts from Nazi Germany since 1933. She describes how she first tried to obtain the immigration certificate for Palestine issued by the British Mandate government and therefore took on a professional reorientation, Hebrew language courses and a trip to the Mandate area of Palestine. 44On the emigration of persecuted Jews from Nazi Germany to Palestine see: Wünschman, Kim: Palestine as a place of refuge for European Jews until 1945, in: bpb, 16.09.2014, https://www.bpb.de/geschichte/nationalsozialismus/gerettete-geschichten/149158/palaestina-als-zufluchtsort-der-europaeischen-juden (02.07.2020). After these efforts were unsuccessful, she finally succeeded in 1938 in obtaining an affidavit. 55The affidavit is a declaration of guarantee with which citizens and organizations in a host country, for example the USA, could help in obtaining entry permits for persecuted persons in Nazi Germany and the territories occupied by it. for the USA, where she emigrated with her family via France in the same year.
Kaléko Mascha, 1957: An die Bundesstelle für Entschädigung, New York, 9.12.1957, pp. 621 ff. in
Mascha Kaléko: Sämtliche Werke und Briefe in vier Bänden [All works and letters in four volumes]. Band II – Briefe 1932-1962 [Volume 2 – Letters 1932-1962]. Edited and commented by Jutta Rosenkranz © 2012 dtv Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, München.
Translation © Minor Kontor.
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