Heinz Norden
Encyclopedia
Heinz Norden was an Author, Translator, Tenant Rights Leader, Editor of Heute, Early victim of Post WWII anti-communist hysteria, won lawsuit against U.S. Army in U.S. Supreme Court, expatriated to England, Influential in the Peace Movement during Vietnam War. b. London
, 1905, d. London
, 1978 from injuries sustained in hit and run traffic accident. Educated in Germany where his parents, non-practicing Jews, sent him back to Germany to receive a gymnasium education, due to anti-German sentiments directly preceding World War I
, made it inadvisable for their children to remain in England cit. NYT, obit. Feb. 4, 1978. Heinz a emigrated to the United States at age 19 accompanied by his sister, Ruth, in aftermath of First World War, attended University of Chicago, moved to New York City where he met and married another aspiring writer Helen Strough Brown (later author under the name of Helen Lawrenson, longtime editor of Vanity Fair for Conde Nast). They settled in Greenwich Village where Heinz earned money as an advertising copywriter until the Wall Street Crash of 1929
left him without a steady job surviving on his guitar playing in Village clubs at night. Brown and Norden soon separated and went on separate paths.
Norden became active in the New York City
Tenant Housing Rights Movementcit. Mark Naison; From Eviction Resistance to Rent Control - Tenant Activism in the Great Depression, The Rebirth of Activism , first as executive secretary to Donelan Phillips (an African American who came to prominence in the Harlem tenant protests of this same period), president of the Citywide Coalition, a housing activist league that was powerful in the early 1930s, then as a Civil Service member of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia's City Housing Authority.
During this same period Norden became a small success as a publisher of Little Blue Books, which was a small press publisher of various biographies and condensed version of popular literature. Among the authors Norden translated and brought to print in approachable versions to the American public were Gothe
, Thomas Mann
and Albert Einstein
. In 1939 Norden translated The New Inquisition
by European journalist Konrad Heiden
, Modern Age, New York, which was one of the earliest and most lucid accounts providing the chronology of escalating torture and disenfranchisement of German Jews to appear in documented form before the general population in America.
Norden enlisted immediately upon President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's declaring war on Japan and Germany, and due to his fluency in German worked in U.S. Military Intelligence reaching the rank of Major i the Army with an intelligence service grade of G2. Post-war during American occupation in Germany, Norden became editor in chief of Heute
the U.S. occupation magazine. In Heute
's September 15, 1947 edition, Norden provided "We, the People" a three page condensed and illustrated version of the American Constitution, this was supplemented with a full translation, under Norden's direction by two of his ablest German staff translators Peter Fischer and Fortunat Weigel, of the U.S. Constitution and Amendments that was provided free in pamphlet form to the thousands that requested it. This proved to be an influential and perhaps historically critical act as it was learned that existing translations of the U.S. Constitution in circulation up to that time in Germany contained gross misinformation and errors. During a period of East-West tensions between the Soviet Union
and the United States
there were many in the U.S. State Department who felt that this work was of tremendous benefit and importance to the West German government .
On April 1, 1949, Federal Judge Jennings Baily ruled that Heinz Norden had been dismissed illegally from his job as editor or Heute
. Shortly thereafter, Norden's translation of Doctors of Infamy, B Alexander Mitscherlich and Fred Mielke, NY, Henry Schuman publisher, won praise and caused horror as it dtailed the depraved inhumanity of the Nazi doctors charged with "Human Degradation by Decree"during the Nuremburg Trials. During that year Heinz Norden worked up an unpublished manuscript, "How I Overthrew the FB & I." In 1950 it was not a hospitable environment for such literature to find a publisher as the United States was now engaged in a new war in North Korea
.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 1905, d. London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 1978 from injuries sustained in hit and run traffic accident. Educated in Germany where his parents, non-practicing Jews, sent him back to Germany to receive a gymnasium education, due to anti-German sentiments directly preceding World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, made it inadvisable for their children to remain in England cit. NYT, obit. Feb. 4, 1978. Heinz a emigrated to the United States at age 19 accompanied by his sister, Ruth, in aftermath of First World War, attended University of Chicago, moved to New York City where he met and married another aspiring writer Helen Strough Brown (later author under the name of Helen Lawrenson, longtime editor of Vanity Fair for Conde Nast). They settled in Greenwich Village where Heinz earned money as an advertising copywriter until the Wall Street Crash of 1929
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...
left him without a steady job surviving on his guitar playing in Village clubs at night. Brown and Norden soon separated and went on separate paths.
Norden became active in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Tenant Housing Rights Movementcit. Mark Naison; From Eviction Resistance to Rent Control - Tenant Activism in the Great Depression, The Rebirth of Activism , first as executive secretary to Donelan Phillips (an African American who came to prominence in the Harlem tenant protests of this same period), president of the Citywide Coalition, a housing activist league that was powerful in the early 1930s, then as a Civil Service member of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia's City Housing Authority.
During this same period Norden became a small success as a publisher of Little Blue Books, which was a small press publisher of various biographies and condensed version of popular literature. Among the authors Norden translated and brought to print in approachable versions to the American public were Gothe
Gothe
Gothe is a village in the southern state of Karnataka, India. It is located in the Jamkhandi taluk of Bagalkot district in Karnataka.-Demographics: India census, Gothe had a population of 5002 with 2590 males and 2412 females....
, Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
and Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
. In 1939 Norden translated The New Inquisition
The New Inquisition
The New Inquisition is a book written by Robert Anton Wilson and first published in 1986. The New Inquisition is a book about ontology, science, paranormal events, and epistemology. Wilson identifies what he calls "Fundamentalist Materialism" belief and compares it to religious...
by European journalist Konrad Heiden
Konrad Heiden
Konrad Heiden was an influential journalist and historian of the Weimar Republic and Nazi eras, most noted for the first influential biographies of German dictator Adolf Hitler. Often, he wrote under the pseudonym "Klaus Bredow."Heiden was born in Munich, Germany, on 7 August 1901, and graduated...
, Modern Age, New York, which was one of the earliest and most lucid accounts providing the chronology of escalating torture and disenfranchisement of German Jews to appear in documented form before the general population in America.
Norden enlisted immediately upon President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's declaring war on Japan and Germany, and due to his fluency in German worked in U.S. Military Intelligence reaching the rank of Major i the Army with an intelligence service grade of G2. Post-war during American occupation in Germany, Norden became editor in chief of Heute
Heute
heute is a news show on the German television channel ZDF. The main show is broadcast at 7 PM, or 19:00, consisting of news of the day, weather forecasts and sport...
the U.S. occupation magazine. In Heute
Heute
heute is a news show on the German television channel ZDF. The main show is broadcast at 7 PM, or 19:00, consisting of news of the day, weather forecasts and sport...
's September 15, 1947 edition, Norden provided "We, the People" a three page condensed and illustrated version of the American Constitution, this was supplemented with a full translation, under Norden's direction by two of his ablest German staff translators Peter Fischer and Fortunat Weigel, of the U.S. Constitution and Amendments that was provided free in pamphlet form to the thousands that requested it. This proved to be an influential and perhaps historically critical act as it was learned that existing translations of the U.S. Constitution in circulation up to that time in Germany contained gross misinformation and errors. During a period of East-West tensions between the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
there were many in the U.S. State Department who felt that this work was of tremendous benefit and importance to the West German government .
Early Blacklist
George A. Dondero, Republican, Representative from Michigan, levied charges that "as a known tenant activist in New York City" Heinz Norden was, "of questionable character." . Norden was not fired as a result of Representative Dondero's charges (Dondero is today best remembered for his sincerely held theory that Abstract Expressionist Art was a Russian plot to muddle the reasoning capacity of Americans). But, the controversy averse U.S. Army did not renew Norden's contract when it came up for renewal. In Correspondence dated December 29, 1947, Norden cites General Lucius D. Clay, Commander of the U.S. Military Government as stating that the results of a loyalty board's investigation of Dondero's charges that Norden has Communist sympathies is not sustained in any way by the facts examined in their investigation .On April 1, 1949, Federal Judge Jennings Baily ruled that Heinz Norden had been dismissed illegally from his job as editor or Heute
Heute
heute is a news show on the German television channel ZDF. The main show is broadcast at 7 PM, or 19:00, consisting of news of the day, weather forecasts and sport...
. Shortly thereafter, Norden's translation of Doctors of Infamy, B Alexander Mitscherlich and Fred Mielke, NY, Henry Schuman publisher, won praise and caused horror as it dtailed the depraved inhumanity of the Nazi doctors charged with "Human Degradation by Decree"during the Nuremburg Trials. During that year Heinz Norden worked up an unpublished manuscript, "How I Overthrew the FB & I." In 1950 it was not a hospitable environment for such literature to find a publisher as the United States was now engaged in a new war in North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
.