Peter Lotar (real name Lothar/Lotar Chitz)
Peter Lotar (real name Lothar/Lotar Chitz)
Durch das nächtliche Deutschland, das Meer des Schreckens… Allgegenwärtig die Polypenaugen, die Fangarme der Gestapo, der SS… Wann packen sie mich, Marek Truntschka, nach dem sie fahnden? Mit einem Fetzen Papier will ich ihnen entrinnen, ausgestellt von einem Unbefugten; vielleicht ist er gefälscht, der Durchlassschein… Der Oberbürgermeister hat ihn mir zugesteckt auf dem Prager Rathaus… Ist er Kollaborateur der deutschen Besatzungsmacht, ist er ein Fechter im Dunkel? Führt sein Passepartout nicht in einen Hinterhalt? Bei jeder Kontrolle flatterndes Herz… eine Nacht ohne Ende. Aber der Morgen kommt doch. Unvorstellbare Wirklichkeit: der schweizerische Bundesbahnhof in Basel. Werde ich bleiben dürfen in diesem Land?
[Through Germany at night, crossing an ocean of terror... Everywhere the bulging eyes, the grasping tentacles of the Gestapo, the SS... When will they seize me, Marek Truntschka, the person they are looking for? I am trying to escape them with a scrap of paper issued by someone who has no authority; perhaps it is forged, the permit... The mayor slipped it to me at the city hall in Prague... Is he collaborating with the German occupying forces, is he fencing in the dark? Is his document leading me into a trap? My heart races at every checkpoint... a night without end. Yet the next day dawns after all. Impossible reality: the Swiss federal railway station in Basel. Will I be allowed to stay in this country? (trans. ed.)]
The beginning of Peter Lotar’s novel Das Land das ich dir zeige (“The country I am showing you”), which describes his escape to Switzerland
| Born | on 12 February 1910 in Prague, Austria-Hungary |
|---|---|
| Died | on 12 July 1986 in Ennetbaden, Switzerland |
| Exile | Switzerland |
| Profession | Actor, Conductor, Writer |
Prague-born actor and writer Peter Lotar left his native city during the German annexation of Czechoslovakia in March 1939 and fled through German territory to Switzerland, where he lived until his death in 1986. Lotar was raised bilingually in a Jewish home in Prague under his real name Lotar Chitz. During the late 1920s, he trained at the Deutsches Theater’s renowned drama school in Berlin, which was directed by Max Reinhardt From 1933 to 1939, Lotar worked as an actor and director in Prague. In May 1939, he went into exile to escape the German occupying forces, not least because a warrant had been issued for his arrest due to his involvement with anti-Fascist stage organisations and radio stations. During the war years, Lotar was engaged as an actor and director at Städtebundtheater Biel-Solothurn, against all the odds and despite the opposition of the Swiss Federal Aliens Police. Peter Lotar’s autobiographical novel Das Land das ich dir zeige (“The country I am showing you”, 1985) gives a humorous, keenly observed account of his flight to Switzerland, the problems he encountered on arrival and how he made a name for himself as an artist in exile. After the war ended, Lotar worked as a dramaturge for Basel-based publishing company Reiss-Bühnenverlag from 1946 to 1949, during which time he co-discovered and took charge of the early works of Friedrich Dürrenmatt and Max Frisch.
Selected works:
Die Wahrheit siegt. Drama zwischen zwei Weltkriegen (Schauspiel, 1943/45)
Das Bild des Menschen (Schauspiel, 1954)
Eine Krähe war mit mir (Roman, 1978)
Das Land das ich dir zeige (Roman, 1985)
Further reading:
Kuklová, Michaela: Peter Lotar (1910–1986). Kulturelle Praxis und autobiographisches Schreiben. Köln: Böhlau 2019.
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