Maria Leitner: Letter to Hubertus Prinz zu Löwenstein, Toulouse, 6 July 1940
Maria Leitner: Letter to Hubertus Prinz zu Löwenstein, Toulouse, 6 July 1940
Es ist sehr interessant hier, wenn auch auf traurige Weise.
[It is very interesting here, even if in a sad way. (ed. trans.)]
Maria Leitner in a letter to Hubertus Prinz zu Löwenstein, Toulouse, 6 July 1940
“I have experienced an enormous number of interesting things which I can certainly utilize in my writing – should I remain alive.” (Unwanted) inspiration which came at a high price: Maria Leitner wrote the letter exhibited here in the days immediately following her successful escape from a French internment camp, the Camp de Gurs. She begins with a short description of her condition as well as the request for financial help. Without means, weakened, in hiding and living in perpetual fear, she nonetheless goes on to devote the largest part of her letter to presenting current and potential literary projects. She hopes, with the help of the American Guild, to find a home for some of them in the USA.
While to start with she hints at the seriousness of her situation, in the second half of the letter in particular Leitner sounds surprisingly businesslike, especially in view of her precarious position. This is probably prompted by her intention of proving herself ‘worthy’ of holding a fellowship from the Guild or by her wishing to deliver something in return for the money she requests. Moreover, in places the letter reads almost like a letter of application (“I am thoroughly familiar with the circumstances”; “I have very considerable experience as a journalist”). This makes one thing clear yet again: Maria Leitner is writing for her life and the American Guild is her last hope for a visa to the USA. However, tracing the projects mentioned in the letter shows that these, like Leitner herself, failed to make it to the States.
(Text: Sophie Eichenlaub)
Further reading:
Schwarz, Helga: Maria Leitner – eine Verschollene des Exils? In: Exilforschung. Ein internationales Jahrbuch (5) 1987, S. 123-134.
Killet, Julia/Schwarz, Helga W. (Hg.): Maria Leitner oder: Im Sturm der Zeit. Berlin: Karl Dietz Verlag 2013.
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