Letter from Heinrich Mann to Rudolf Olden (19 April 1934)
On 16 April 1934 Rudolf Olden, secretary of the German PEN Group in Exile, asked the writer Heinrich Mann if he would like to take on the post of President of the newly established group and also asked him if he would travel as one of two delegates to attend the international PEN congress in Glasgow in June 1934. Heinrich Mann already filled the posts of Honorary Chairman of the writers’association ‘Schutzverband Deutscher Schriftsteller’ and President of the German Freedom Library.
Letter from John Heartfield to the Czech Refugee Trust Fund (1 April 1941)
Letter from John Heartfield to the Czech Refugee Trust Fund (1 April 1941)In the winter of 1938, John Heartfield fled by plane from Prague to Great Britain. He was able to flee thanks to his Czech passport and with help from the Czech Refugee Trust Fund.
Letter from László Moholy-Nagy to Paul Citroen (1936)
The letter was written by the constructivist László Moholy-Nagy, who had come to London in 1935 shortly after the birth of his second daughter, Claudia.László Moholy-Nagy worked as art director for industrial firms, designed shop windows, advertising posters, books, invitation cards and trade fair stands.
Letter from László Moholy-Nagy to Paul Citroen, (1937)
László Moholy-Nagy was appointed director of the New Bauhaus in 1937 by the Association of Arts and Industries. The contact was established by Walter Gropius who was earmarked for this post but could not accept because he was already committed to Harvard.
Letter from Lion Feuchtwanger to the Emergency Rescue Committee (1940)
Shortly after his arrival in New York, Lion Feuchtwanger sent this letter on 26 November 1940 to the aid organisation Emergency Rescue Committee, which played an important role in rescuing the writer from France and preparing his entry into the USA. As the letter indicates, there was some degree of uncertainty on the part of Feuchtwanger concerning the number of helpers who were involved in his rescue.
Letter from Ludwig Winder to Carl Ehrenstein, 1940
In this letter from the writer Ludwig Winder to the literary agent Carl Ehrenstein, Winder expressed his hope to be able to travel on to the US in the near future. As he reports here, the cramped accommodation conditions in exile in England evidently made it impossible for him to write.
Letter from Max Beckmann to Stephan Lackner, 4 August 1937
On 4 August 1937, Max Beckmann writes from Amsterdam to writer and collector Stephan Lackner that he will have a new studio at his disposal the next day, also explaining: “I want to stay here for now, then maybe move on to Paris later on. For the interim, Amsterdam is not bad.
Letter from Reich Ministry of Science, Education and Culture to Alfred Neumeyer, transcript (24 July 1935)
On 24 July 1935, the university associate lecturer Alfred Neumeyer was granted holiday leave by the Reich Ministry of Science, Education and Culture. For Neumeyer however, the reason for applying for leave was not the prospect of a pleasant holiday. The application was a pretence to leave Berlin.
Letter from Richard Paulick to Walter Gropius (1945)
From exile in Shanghai, the architect Richard Paulick re-established contact with his colleague at Harvard, Walter Gropius, in this letter. Between 1927 and 1930 Paulick had worked in Gropius' Dessau office and was appointed manager in 1928.
Letter from Rudolf Olden to Richard A. Bermann (4 June 1938)
Rudolf Olden and Richard A. Bermann knew one another from their editorial work at the democratic newspaper Der Neue Tag and had worked together with the Editor-in-Chief and founder Benno Karpeles.
