Senior Exhibits in the Vitrines
Exilliteratur
Curated by Keziah Goudsmit ’12
April 30-May 10, 2012
Illustration by P. L. Urban, 1935, from Geschichten Aus Sieben Ghettos
After Hitler’s book burning in 1933, many authors fled the country to continue their writing. Most writers found refuge in other European cities like Paris, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Prague and Moscow. After war broke out all over Europe, writers had to continue their journey. They found safety in countries abroad like the United States and Mexico. The books written in between 1933 and 1945 are placed in a specific category called Exilliteratur (exile literature). Some famous exile authors are Theodor Adorno, Hannah Arendt, Walter Benjamin, Bertolt Brecht, Klaus Mann and Thomas Mann.
Two Dutch publication houses, Querido Verlag and Verlag Allert De Lange, played an important role for the exiled writers. They published many books and strongly supported the authors during this period. In this exhibition, famous writers like Joseph Roth, Max Brod, Stefan Zweig and Lion Feuchtwanger plus several lesser-known authors are represented by volumes published in Holland. All the books are first editions from the Nazi era. Querido and Allert De Lange made it possible for these authors to keep writing and it is important for our generation to keep their work alive. For this reason, I decided to find first edition books and exhibit them to Bard students and the community. This show is dedicated to the exiled writers and their struggle.
