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EXHIBITIONS
Exiled to Paradise: German Intellectuals in Los Angeles,
1933-1950
An Exhibit in
Honor of Dr. Franklin D. Murphy
Doheny Memorial
Library
University
of Southern California
March 15 -
May 29, 1992
The rise of National
Socialism in the 1920s and 1930s in Germany led to great changes in
Europe and directly affected the cultural and social landscape of Southern
California. Even before Adolf Hitler was named Chancellor in 1933, German
intellectuals and artists began fleeing their homeland. Under the influence
of National Socialist ideology, Germany no longer provided the liberal
artistic environment enjoyed during the Weimar Republic. Instead, Nazi
proponents stifled artistic expression and attacked whatever they considered
"un-German."
Hundreds of Germans
flocked to Southern California during the 1930s and 1940s. Many came
to Los Angeles hoping to find work in the Hollywood movie industry as
screenwriters, actors, composers, directors, etc. Although a large number
of the émigrés had been successful in Europe, the language
barrier and different artistic sensibilities hindered many from finding
their niche in American cultural life. Not all émigrés
were interested in working in the movie industry; instead they came
to the Southland to enjoy the Mediterranean-like climate and to be among
fellow exiles.
Exiled to
Paradise outlines the successes and failures in Southern California
of several German intellectuals who escaped to Los Angeles in the 1930s
and 1940s. Writer Lion Feuchtwanger and composer Arnold Schoenberg form
the primary focus of the exhibit, with glimpses of Bertolt Brecht, Hanns
Eisler, Max Reinhardt, and Franz Werfel.
Nazi Propaganda
against 'Un-German' Intellectuals
The first part of the
exhibit shows examples of the massive Nazi propaganda against Jewish and
other "un-German" intellectuals. The newspaper articles on display endeavored
to discredit writer Lion Feuchtwanger's sharp attacks against National
Socialism as well as blacklist those authors considered by the ultra right
wing political group as "degenerate" and "un-German."
Internment of Anti-Nazi
Intellectuals
The next section shows
Lion Feuchtwanger's captivity in the French internment camp at Les Milles
and his arrival in New York in 1940. Also illustrated are examples of
Feuchtwanger's efforts to help fellow exiles obtain the appropriate visas
and paperwork required for their entry into the United States.
Life for those
Exiled to Paradise
The bulk of the exhibit
depicts the new lives of Lion Feuchtwanger, Arnold Schoenberg, and several
other German-speaking émigrés who lived for a time in Southern
California. Bertolt Brecht, Hanns Eisler, Max Reinhardt, and Franz Werfel
all contributed to the cultural life of Los Angeles in varying degrees.
Lion Feuchtwanger (1884-1958) was considered by Nazi officials to be a
traitor because of his strongly critical stance toward National Socialism
and Hitler. In his novel Erfolg (Success) published
in 1930, Feuchtwanger revealed the evils of National Socialism as he had
experienced them living in Munich in the early 1920s. By the 1940s, Feuchtwanger
already had a large American audience, thus he could continue to write
in German and have his work translated into English.
Arnold
Schoenberg (1874-1951), atonalist composer and inventor of
the twelve-tone serial technique, came to the United States after he
lost his teaching position at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin.
He moved to Los Angeles in 1934 primarily to enjoy the healing benefits
of the warm climate. In 1935 he began teaching at the University of
Southern California. The following year he accepted a position at the
University of California, Los Angeles where he remained until his health
forced him to retire in 1944.
Bertolt
Brecht (1898-1956), probably the most significant German playwright
of the twentieth century, had great difficulties in this country owing
to his theatrical philosophy and political views. One success, however,
was his production of "Galileo," on which he was assisted by the well-known
British actor Charles Laughton.
Composer Hanns
Eisler (1898-1962) studied with Arnold Schoenberg in Vienna
in the early 1920s and began collaborating with playwright Bertolt Brecht
in the 1930s. Eisler moved to Hollywood in 1942 and accepted a teaching
position at USC. Although known for his modernist compositions, Eisler
was also able to write the type of music sought in Hollywood and created
a number of film scores. Unfortunately, Eisler's involvement with the
Communist Party in the late 1920s got him in trouble with the House
of Representatives' Un-American Activities Committee in 1947, which
led to his abrupt departure in 1948. Eisler settled in former East Germany
where one of his compositions was selected as the national anthem of
the former German Democratic Republic.
World renowned
theater director Max Reinhardt (1873-1943) emigrated
in 1933 to the United States after he lost his position as Director
of the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. His spectacular production of Shakespeare's
"A Midsummer Night's Dream" in 1934 at the Hollywood Bowl was enormously
popular.
The Austrian poet,
novelist, and dramatist Franz Werfel (1890-1945) was
another émigré who was able to break into the film industry
successfully. He fled Austria in 1938, lived in France for two years,
then came to this country. His internationally successful novel The
Song of Bernardette and play "Juarez and Maximilian" were made
into films in 1943 and 1939.
Pazifische Presse
One major difficulty
facing German writers living in exile was isolation from their readers.
Since the writings of these authors were outlawed in Nazi-controlled territories,
their works had to be produced elsewhere or not at all. A number of publishing
firms undertook the task of keeping the writings of such figures as Alfred
Döblin and Thomas Mann in print. Publishers in Los Angeles, too,
played their part in making the works of well-known German writers available,
albeit in limited editions. The Pazifische Presse, formed in 1942, produced
eleven volumes by German writers.
Most of the materials
displayed in the exhibit "Exiled to Paradise" come from the Feuchtwanger
Memorial Library and Archive and the Arnold Schoenberg Institute at the
University of Southern California. Other sources are the Warner Brothers
Archives, Cinema-Television Collection; Hearst Collection, Regional History
Center; and the Department of Special Collections, University of Southern
California. The exhibit at the University of Southern California was inspired
by the1991 Hollywood Bowl Museum exhibit "Exiles in Paradise" created
by Carol Merrill-Mirsky. We would like to extend our thanks to Carol Merrill-Mirsky,
Curator of the Hollywood Bowl Museum, and Hollywood Bowl Executive Director
Ernest Fleischmann for their help in making this exhibit possible.
