THE INTERNATIONAL FEUCHTWANGER SOCIETY

On 11 July 2001 scholars and journalists from the US and Europe came together in Pacific Palisades (Los Angeles) to found the International Feuchtwanger Society. The Society aims to increase awareness of the life and works of Lion and Marta Feuchtwanger and other German émigrés who settled in Southern California during and after the Nazi period. Lion Feuchtwanger was a best-selling author in the US and pre-war Europe who became an important cultural link between the two continents.

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The Society issues a regular Newsletter and holds a series of conferences alternating between the US and Europe. The first conference, scheduled for spring 2003, was co-sponsored by the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library of the University of Southern California. It took place at the Villa Aurora, the Feuchtwanger's former home in Pacific Palisades. A second event is planned for 2005 in Sanary-sur-Mer (France), an important center of German émigré culture in 1930s.

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During the 1930s and 1940s, many German Jews and intellectuals fled Nazi Germany. At first many of them moved to neighboring European countries seeking a haven for their religious and political views. As the National Socialists expanded their control throughout Europe, the German exiles were again in grave danger. Those who were able to escape across the Atlantic finally found safety in the United States. Some of these writers, artists, and intellectuals gathered in New York; however, Southern California's warm, Mediterranean-like climate attracted many to live on the West Coast.