The Arrival of Hannah Arendt
This film describes the arrival of Hannah Arendt - a Jewish, German-American political theorist and publicist - in New York and her reflections on flight and helping people start over.
New York City in the 1930s and 1940s – “If you can make it here…”
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“I have never led a refugee existence.”
Käthe Berl’s life in New York
Käthe Berl was a well-known Austrian-American artist born in 1908 in Vienna into a Jewish family. Her family did not survive the Holocaust. Käthe,…
“We have never been ‘refugees’ as we are now.”
Mascha Kaléko about serious material concerns as a refugee in New York, 1941
In a diary entry in New York on June 20, 1941, the poet Mascha Kaléko (1907-1975) describes the many, mainly material, worries as a…
“From one job to another. How rushed is in this country.”
Hertha Nathorff’s first difficult experience as refugee in New York
Hertha Nathorff, née Einstein (1895-1993) was a German pediatrician, psychotherapist and social worker. Until 1934 she worked as a senior physician at the Red…
“Listen, Rivke, in America, your best friend is the dollar, and you’re your own closest relative…”
Rivke Zilberg: A Borrowed World
In her work “A Jewish Refugee in New York” Kadya Molodowsky presents the life of the twenty-year-old refugee from Lublin Rivke Zilberg in New…
“But I did save one thing: loose, ripped pages of my diary.”
Hertha Nathorff about home and displacement
In excerpts from the diary Berlin-New York Aufzeichnungen 1933 bis 1945, Hertha Nathorff describes her inconceivable displacement from her homeland and the destruction of…
“We are expellees, banished.”
Bertolt Brecht: On the Term Emigrants (1937)
Bertolt Brecht’s poem on the difference between emigration and exile
“Still, still, still we experienced Paris.”
Mascha Kaléko about her flight from Germany
In a diary entry of 27 January 1939, the poet Mascha Kaléko (1907-1975) traces her escape from Germany to New York in the autumn…
“I am poor, I cannot help with money, but I would like to help with what I can, I would like to train the women, I would like to give courses, without payment of course. If only I had a suitable room, because in our “home” I can not ask anyone. Help me to find a room, I said to the secretary, unaware that she knew my name from over there, even if she did not know me personally.”
Hertha Nathorff’s nursing course for women
Hertha Nathorff, née Einstein (1895-1993) was a German pediatrician, psychotherapist and social worker. Until 1934 she worked as a senior physician at the Red…
“… the best thing for a girl my age who comes to America…is to get married.”
Rivke Zilberg’s Job Search in New York
In her work “A Jewish Refugee in New York” Kadya Molodowsky presents the life of the twenty-year-old refugee from Lublin Rivke Zilberg in New…
“I have not heard from you and from the Academy for months.”
Anna Seghers to Prince Löwenstein, March 1939
In this letter Anna Seghers asks Prince Löwenstein why he has not gotten back to her, even though he said that he would get…
“Following his break with Nazism, Thomas Mann, Nobel Prize winning German author, has just become a member of the German Academy of Arts and Letters”
Thomas Mann becomes a member of the German Academy
This document is a text about the admission of Thomas Mann (1875-1955) to the German Academy of Arts and Literature, which is part of…
“I am aware of all the objections to a book of poems, but why should the lyrical poet never, never be able to speak?”
Request for support from Lessie Sachs Wagner to the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom, November 1939.
Lessie Sachs Wagner (1872-1942) writes a letter to the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom to ask if they have decided to support her…
“Tomorrow you too may yourself be shut out,
to wander and wander and wander …“
to wander and wander and wander …“
Hilde Marx: Ballad for a farewell
Hilde Marx (1911-1986) was a German-American poet, writer and journalist. She is one of the authors whose writing career was only just beginning when…
“New York, after all, is still today the city with the largest Jewish population in the world, with all kinds of Jews.”
Meeting with Harry Asher in New York
Harry Asher- originally Georg Auscher – born in Vienna in 1907. In 1920 the family moved to Czechoslovakia, where his parents came from. At…
“I liked a bit of peace and quiet, but the political situation is not like that. There’s nothing you can do about it.”
Hannah Arendt on arriving in New York
Hannah Arendt tells her ex-husband Günther Anders about the circumstances of her escape from Lisbon and her arrival in New York.
“You belong to us, don’t you?” and shows me her swastika on her coat collar.
Hertha Nathorff: Assembly of the Association of German Women Physicians and the End
In this excerpt, Hertha describes how she was forced to leave her job as head doctor of the Women’s and Counseling Center.
“… with the shock of having been forced to leave her country and readjust completely, Dr. Salomon is on the verge of a complete break.”
Valeria H. Parker to Mr. Oswald Garrison Villard in regards to Dr. Alison Salomon, February 1938
Valeria H. Parker is vouching for Dr. Alice Salomon (1872-1948) to get financial aid from the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom. She describes…
“That it was not Germany, that was the main thing.”
Fred Grubel: Arrival in New York
Fred (Fritz) Grubel (in Germany formerly Grüber) worked in the administration of the Jewish Community in Leipzig, his responsibilities included organizing the emigration of…
“Other than a few words that we learned in skool, I still can’t speak English.”
Rivke Zilberg’s one “comfort” in New York
The author of the novel “A Jewish Refugee in New York” Kadya Molodovsky is one of the most important Yiddish poets of the mid-20th…
“Only authorized to treat Jews.”
Hertha Nathorff loses passport and license to practice medicine, 1938
In excerpts from the diary Berlin-New York Aufzeichnungen 1933 bis 1945, Hertha Nathorff vividly describes the destruction of her life and the expulsion from…
“…, I was aware immediately after their seizure of power that there were generally no prospects for Jews for a future in Germany.”
Mascha Kalékos Letter to the Federal Restituion Authority, December 1957
As part of her year-long efforts to obtain material restitution for her persecution by Nazi Germany, the poet Mascha Kaléko (1907-1975) described her attempts…
The Development of the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom’s Statement of Purpose
“NY is like a very big Berlin – that’s fine with me, even though I had become a die-hard Parisian in the last few years.”
Hannah Arendt on Paris, New York and Berlin in comparison
In this letter to her ex-husband Günther Anders from May 1941, Hannah Arendt gives an overview of her arrival experience in New York.
“Was home there? – Is home here?”
Poem by Hertha Nathorff “Home – where?”
Hertha Nathorff, née Einstein (1895-1993) was a German pediatrician, psychotherapist and social worker. With the help of American relatives, she managed to emigrate to…
Hilde Marx: “We Outside”
Hilde Marx (1911-1986) was a German-American poet, writer and journalist. She is one of the authors whose writing career was only just beginning when…
“… as soon you earn your first dollar, you’re an American; you’re practically a seeteezen.“
Rivke Zilberg’s first Dollar in New York
In her work “A Jewish Refugee in New York” Kadya Molodowsky presents the life of the twenty-year-old refugee from Lublin- Rivke Zilberg in New…
“The Gestapo had put a gun to my cheast.”
Hilde Marx: Escape to the USA
Hilde Marx (born November 1, 1911 in Bayreuth) was a German-American poet, writer and journalist. She is one of the authors whose writing career…
“A little bit of homesickness is haunting all my emigration poems.”
Mascha Kaléko on emigration and homesickness in spring
In an interview with Sender Freies Berlin on 1 June 1956, the poet Mascha Kaléko (1907-1975) looks back on her first years of emigration…
“Well, that I belong to the country, that this is the country where I live, where I belong, where my children are, where my grandchildren are, where I am at home.”
Fred Grubel feels like an American in New York
Fred (Fritz) Grubel (formerly Grübel in Germany) was born in Leipzig in 1908. He studied in Leipzig,Frankfurt and received a doctorate in law. He…
“…and then asked my profeshun. I didn’t know what to tell her. In Lublin, I was a student…and here? “
Rivke Zilberg and the Council of Jewish Charity Women
In her work “A Jewish Refugee in New York” Kadya Molodowsky presents the life of the twenty-year-old refugee from Lublin Rivke Zilberg in New…
“The permit for England is here! The stay for half a year is approved.”
Hertha Nathorff tries to save her child, her husband and herself
In excerpts from the diary Berlin-New York Aufzeichnungen 1933 bis 1945, Hertha Nathorff vividly describes the destruction of her life, which was incomprehensible to…
“Of course, it stays the same, […]
If I say home, not Heimat”
If I say home, not Heimat”
The Slight Difference
Poem by Mascha Kaléko (ca. 1938)
“…life really started there, so, here in New York.”
Meeting Helga Hagen: Life in New York
Helga Hagen was born in 1918 in Berlin-Nikolassee. The father, a private banker, comes from the bourgeois, completely assimilated Jewish upper class of the…
“What a horrible word ‘refugee’. The word is a curse.”
Rivke Zilberg’s first New Year in New York
The author of the novel “A Jewish Refugee in New York” Kadya Molodovsky is one of the most important Yiddish poets of the mid-20th…
“At the age of sixty-six, and with little physical strength, she is endeavoring to readjust her life.”
Statement Regarding Alice Salomon, February 1938
Alice Salomon’s life is described in this statement and the reasons she requires financial assistance from the American Guild for Cultural Freedom. The statement…
“We lost our home, which means the familiarity of daily life”
Hannah Arendt on Refugeedom
This is one of the crucial excerpts from Hannah Arendt’s essay “We Refugees” that she published in 1943 shortly after arriving in New York.
“Just the ‘sickness’ stayed.
The ‘home’s’ away.”
The ‘home’s’ away.”
Homesick, for What?
Poem by Mascha Kaléko, written in Israel in 1960’s
“The first lights of New York beckon me welcome in the early morning. A faint hope fills my heart.”
Hertha Nathorff’s arrival in New York
In excerpts from the diary Berlin-New York Aufzeichnungen 1933 bis 1945, Hertha Nathorff vividly describes the destruction of her life, which was incomprehensible to…
“Nevertheless, my sense of responsibility forbids me to register with you for the emergency list – I am better off than unfortunately many others, because I still have honest hope in me.”
Hilde Marx’s inquiries for support of the American Guild for Cultural Freedom
Hilde Marx (1911-1986) was a German-American poet, writer and journalist. She is one of the authors whose writing career was only just beginning when…
“To Palestine? No-to America I want to go! But how?”
Hertha Nathorff: First thoughts about emigration to the USA, 1934
IIn excerpts from the diary Berlin-New York Aufzeichnungen 1933 bis 1945, Hertha Nathorff vividly describes the expulsion from her homeland, which was incomprehensible to…
“…but then we were put on a little harbor boat and it went chop, chop, chop up the Hudson to Ellis Island.”
Leo Glueckselig: Escape from Austria and Arrival in New York
Leo Glueckselig was born in 1914 in Vienna, in the 2nd district. In 1938, immediately after the “Anschluss” of Austria to the Reich, Glueckselig…
“…how can a woman study medicine…? They were appalled that even though I was already 27 at the time, I was not married,- a woman at 27, with a profession…”
Else Pappenheim in New York
Else Pappenheim was an Austrian-American physician born in 1911 in Vienna to a Jewish family. She left Vienna in 1938 after the revocation of…
“Despite all the differences in their opinions, the emigrated art historians work in a common direction, which is the opposite of what is now taught in Germany.”
Anna Seghers to the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom on behalf of Lothar Freud and Lukas Lehman, October 1938
In this letter Anna Seghers vouches for Lothar Freud and Lukas Lehman to receive aid from the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom, so…
“In fact, I would have turned to you first because I am convinced that you would help me to the best of your ability.”
Anna Seghers to Prince Löwenstein. September 1938
In this letter from September 1938 Anna Seghers thanks Prince Löwenstein for his help and explains how she plans to write her next book.
“The women managed to feed themselves and their husbands while studying, and they didn’t cut faces.”
Hilde Marx: First impressions of New York
Hilde Marx (born November 1, 1911 in Bayreuth) was a German-American poet, writer and journalist. She is one of the authors whose writing career…
“New York! Gigantic mixture of steel, cement and glass…”
Oskar Maria Graf: Ode to New York
Oskar Maria Graf was a German-American writer. His literary beginnings can be found in expressionist poetry. He wrote poems, novels, (autobiographical) stories, calendar stories,…
“I guess you know how much I care about this work of mine and how hard it is on the other hand to keep going and work in this field at the same time.”
Gaining a foothold as a writer in the USA – Letter from Hilde Marx to the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom
Hilde Marx (1911-1986) was a German-American poet, writer and journalist. She is one of the authors whose writing career was only just beginning when…
“The aim and work of this encouraging, thriving American organization is to secure the freedom and continuance of a non-Party German artistic and scientific culture for the present and for the future.”
Memorandum on the Founding of a German Academy in New York. June 1936
This memorandum clarifies the creation of the German Academy of Arts and Sciences together with the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom in New…
“You will understand that my artistic existence and career are at stake and that I, who have arrived here like a Godsend must not be allowed to have the carpet being pulled off under my feet, before it even could accumulate.”
Egon Vitalis Biel: Fresh Start with Difficulties
“I still maintain today that each of us, I do not exclude myself, has taken away some damage. A trauma that for some is so bad that they end up in a sanatorium somewhere, or worse: suicide.”
Hilde Marx: Flight as a break in life
Hilde Marx (born November 1, 1911 in Bayreuth) was a German-American poet, writer and journalist. She is one of the authors whose writing career…
“That such a thing is still possible in the 20th century.”
Hertha Nathorff: Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses, 1. April 1933
In excerpts from the diary Berlin-New York Aufzeichnungen 1933 bis 1945 Hertha Nathorff vividly describes the expulsion from her homeland, which was incomprehensible to…
“As long as there is once again a city, a sign of home, then my world still exists.”
Rivke Zilberg: Lublin still exists
In her work “A Jewish Refugee in New York” Kadya Molodowsky presents the life of the twenty-year-old refugee from Lublin – Rivke Zilberg in…
“No matter where I travel,
I go to Nowhereland”
I go to Nowhereland”
Not a Children’s Song
Poem by Mascha Kaléko
Hilde Marx: Ballad of a Nurse
Hilde Marx (1911-1986) was a German-American poet, writer and journalist. She is one of the authors whose writing career was only just beginning when…
“Everything I had created was destroyed, my poor women-who will take care of them now?”
Hertha Nathorff: no more social work
In excerpts from the diary Berlin-New York Aufzeichnungen 1933 bis 1945 Hertha Nathorff vividly describes the expulsion from her homeland, which was incomprehensible to…
“Listen, in America, women work.”
Hilda Epstein’s Life in New York
Hilda Epstein was a German nurse born in Karlsruhe into a religious Jewish family. She learned infant care in Heidelberg, and later moved to…
“We are extremely sorry to have to inform you that the Board of Directors has unfortunately not been able to grant your request for a scholarship, as the European problems are too much in the foreground.”
Rejection letter from Markus Wolf to Lessie Sachs Wagner, January 1940.
Lessie Sachs Wagner has applied for financial aid from the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom and in this letter she is denied her…
“To keep alive in it another German cultural tradition is perhaps to be called the main task of the Academy…”
Thomas Mann, The German Academy in New York. nd
In this text, written by Thomas Mann (1875-1955), he explains his opinion about the foundation of the German Academy in New York in connection…
“Again and again the same question : Aryan or not?”
Hertha Nathorff: I am a human being like everyone else
In excerpts from the diary Berlin-New York Aufzeichnungen 1933 bis 1945, Hertha Nathorff vividly describes the expulsion from her homeland, which was incomprehensible to…
“This period of time, although my ‘unproductive’ one, is deep and very filled.”
Mascha Kalékos diary entry about the beginning of the war and her safe situation in exile
In a diary entry from September 1939, the poet Mascha Kaléko (1907-1975) reflects on the outbreak of the war in Europe and her own…
“We were again the refugees who had to put up with every kind of harassment.”
Hertha Nathorff’s Experiences of Discrimination in New York
Hertha Nathorff, née Einstein (1895-1993) was a German pediatrician, psychotherapist and social worker. Until 1934 she worked as a senior physician at the Red…
“I take the liberty of calling attention to the dreadful danger that exists in the new decrees concerning the forced deportations to Poland, and that quick help would therefore be a work of God.”
Friederike Ergas to the American Guild, January 1940
In this letter Friederike Ergas describes the living situation of her friends Jenny Schaffer Bernstein and Otto Bernstein who urgently need financial support from…
Letter to Max Oppenheimer from the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom
Austrian painter Max Oppenheimer (1885–1954) is asked to join the visual and performing arts committee established by the Secretary General of the Council of…
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Exiled Intellectuals potrayed by Fred Stein
Fred Stein (1909-1967) began to make photography his profession after his escape from Nazi Germany to Paris in 1933. Besides street photography, portraiture became…
“For the first few days, we felt with this town like a ‘honeymooner’ with his brand-new, beloved wife.”
Mascha Kaléko about her first impressions from New York
A couple of months after her flight to New York, the poet Mascha Kaléko (1907-1975) describes her first impressions of the city in a…
“At the same time, we wanted to conquer New York in one day, or even America, we wanted to send it all off yesterday. And then we became disillusioned, saw how insanely difficult it is.”
Hilde Marx: Affidavit for the parents
Hilde Marx (born November 1, 1911 in Bayreuth) was a German-American poet, writer and journalist. She is one of the authors whose writing career…
Letter by Isaac L. Asofsky to the American Guild
Otto Bernstein and his wife Jenny Schaffer-Bernstein both need financial support in order to flee Germany. In this letter the Hebrew Sheltering And Immigrant…
“…that all knowledge, all knowledge here is of no value unless you have an American Certificate!”
Hertha Nathorff’s American Certificate
In the course of the National Socialist racial policy, Hertha Nathorff lost her license to practice medicine in 1934 and her medical license in…
“In addition, this monstrous, irritating and fascinating city with its special atmosphere”
Lessie Sachs Wagner to the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom, April 1939
In this letter, Lessie Sachs Wagner describes her current living situation and the difficulty of finding time to focus on her work. She is…
“I am better American, than many who are born here.”
Hilda Epstein’s gratitude to the USA
Hilda Epstein was a German nurse born in Karlsruhe into a religious Jewish family. She learned infant care in Heidelberg, and later moved to…