Camill Hoffmann
Encyclopedia
Camill Hoffmann was a Jewish Czechoslovak diplomat and writer born in 1878.
An ardent Czechoslovak nationalist, Hoffmann was appointed to the diplomatic corps as a cultural attache in Berlin. As the rising Nazi Party became increasingly belligerent, Hoffmann began using his political clout and connections to help German Jews, including Leon Trotsky
's son, who he aided in escaping Berlin.
During 1993 he was mobilized on behalf of Max Brod
, Franz Kafka
's friend and literary executor. Hoffmann was asked to try to rescue Kafka's writings and personal correspondence confiscated by the Gestapo
from Kafka's mistress, Dora Diamant
. He was unsuccessful, however, and the materials remain lost, pursued still by the Kafka Project
at San Diego State University
.
His diary from his time as a diplomat, "Politicky Denik", translated as "The Political Diaries of Camill Hoffmann from 1932 to 1939," was recently published in Czech.
Hoffmann died in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944.
An ardent Czechoslovak nationalist, Hoffmann was appointed to the diplomatic corps as a cultural attache in Berlin. As the rising Nazi Party became increasingly belligerent, Hoffmann began using his political clout and connections to help German Jews, including Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
's son, who he aided in escaping Berlin.
During 1993 he was mobilized on behalf of Max Brod
Max Brod
Max Brod was a German-speaking Czech Jewish, later Israeli, author, composer, and journalist. Although he was a prolific writer in his own right, he is most famous as the friend and biographer of Franz Kafka...
, Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
's friend and literary executor. Hoffmann was asked to try to rescue Kafka's writings and personal correspondence confiscated by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
from Kafka's mistress, Dora Diamant
Dora Diamant
Dora Diamant is best remembered as the lover of the writer Franz Kafka and the person who kept some of his last writings in her possession until they were confiscated by the Gestapo in 1933...
. He was unsuccessful, however, and the materials remain lost, pursued still by the Kafka Project
Kafka project
The Kafka Project is a non-profit literary research initiative founded in 1998 at San Diego State University. Working on behalf of the Kafka estate in London, England, the SDSU Kafka Project is working to recover materials written by Franz Kafka, the widely acclaimed modernist author, stolen by the...
at San Diego State University
San Diego State University
San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...
.
His diary from his time as a diplomat, "Politicky Denik", translated as "The Political Diaries of Camill Hoffmann from 1932 to 1939," was recently published in Czech.
Hoffmann died in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944.