Letter from the English-Speaking Union War Relief to Helmut Krommer (22 February 1943)
A work of art by way of saying thanksDuring World War II numerous organisations worked on behalf of people in need in Europe. This support was a welcome relief for the beneficiaries and their families, among whom there were many emigrated artists without regular incomes. While in exile in London Helmut Krommer received such a charitable handout in February 1943.
Letter from the German Society of Sciences and Arts to Hugo Steiner-Prag (7 February 1939)
Discrimination in the already abandoned Prague exileOn 7 February 1939, Hugo Steiner-Prag was informed of his immediate exclusion from the German Society of Sciences and Arts for the Czech Republic in a short letter. However, the letter, which was addressed to his Prague place of residence, did not reach the artist there.
Letter from the parents of the artist Joseph Hahn to Peter Weiss (September 1939)
As the Sudeten German question escalated and Hitler threatened war, Joseph Hahn fled with his parents from the German border areas into the interior of Czechoslovakia.
Letter from the Reich Chamber of Literatureto Alfred Neumeyer (15 June 1935)
Alfred Neumeyer was directly affected by the “cleansing of the Reich Chamber of Culture of non-Aryan members” in June 1935. He was informed per letter that he must cease all his literary activity. As Neumeyer himself declared, his literary writing was not a hobby but a necessity for him.
Letter from Walter Reisch to Marlene Dietrich, 8 March 1934
The screenwriter Walter Reisch and actress Marlene Dietrich were friends. After Dietrich's move to the United States in 1930, they sent each other long letters.
Letter of recommendation for Georg Kreisler from Arnold Schönberg (1939)
The musical talent of the then 16-year-old Georg Kreisler was discovered in their new environment shortly after the Kreisler family arrived in the USA in 1938. He was involved in several high school performances as a pianist and arranger.
Letter of recommendation from Albert Einstein for Konrad Wachsmann (2 October 1939)
In 1939 the architect Konrad Wachsmann, who had entered France illegally, sent a letter to Albert Einstein with a request for help. Wachsmann had made Einstein’s acquaintance in 1929 and had built a summerhouse for him in Caputh near Berlin.
Letter of Recommendation from Wolfgang Reinhardt for Heinrich Mann (1941)
With this letter to the American consul in Tijuana, film producer Wolfgang Reinhardt, who had emigrated to Hollywood in 1938, supported Heinrich Mann’s application for permanent residency in the USA. In it, he praises the German writer’s efforts and commitment in his work for Warner Brothers – with success: in the spring of 1941, Mann received the “permanent resident” status he had sought.
Letter: Alfred Neumeyer to the US Immigration and Naturalization Service, carbon copy (19 June 1940)
In the sixth year of his exile, Alfred Neumeyer pressed forward with his application to become a naturalised citizen of the United States. After reading a newspaper story in the San Francisco Chronicle he decided he wanted to serve in the military.
Letter: Eric Zeisl to Hilde Spiel (undated, circa 1942)
After ten months at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), the pianist and composer Eric Zeisl wrote to his friend Hilde Spiel. He told her about Journey for Margaret (1942) and Reunion in France (1942), two films made in collaboration with Franz Waxman.
