German Exile Literature 1933-1945

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah); Marc J. Schweissinger (Cardiff University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

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Literature Topic

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Date of occurrence 1933-1945

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Germany (Location)

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When the National Socialists usurped power in Germany in 1933 and rapidly dismantled the existing democratic system, they immediately persecuted and banned German-Jewish and all dissenting authors, many of whom stood on the political left. Already on 10 May 1933, books by more than 40 writers were publicly burned. The infamous

Nürnberger Gesetze

, “racial laws” issued in 1935, “legalized” the persecution of German Jews. Concentration camps existed from the start, and dissidents were brutalized, imprisoned, tortured, expropriated and murdered. After 1938, Nazi terror in Germany and in annexed Austria reached a first high point and had managed, to a large extent, to silence any opposition. Far more than 2000 authors of fictional and non-fictional texts were driven into exile. Taken…

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3722 words

Citation: Knapp, Gerhard P., Marc J. Schweissinger. "German Exile Literature 1933-1945". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 September 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1595, accessed 25 November 2024.]

German Exile Literature 1933-1945

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