Manfred George
Encyclopedia
Manfred George, born Manfred Georg Cohn, later shortened to Manfred Georg, was a German journalist
, author
and translator. He left Germany after the Nazis came to power, living in several different European countries and eventually emigrating penniless to the United States in 1939. He became the editor of Aufbau
, a periodical published in German, and transformed it from a small monthly newsletter into an important weekly newspaper, especially during World War II
and the postwar era, when it became an important source of information for Jews trying to establish new lives and for Nazi concentration camp survivors to find each other. George remained Editor in Chief of Aufbau until his death.
, the son of a businessman. He studied law at universities in Berlin, Greifswald
and Geneva
. After a serious injury during World War I
, he was discharged from military service and continued his studies, graduating in 1917 with a doctorate in law. He began his journalism career before graduation, writing for the newspaper, Deutsche Montagszeitung and he began contributing to Die Weltbühne
in 1915. He then went to work at the publisher, Ullstein-Verlag. He quickly advanced from city editor of the Berliner Morgenpost
to editor in chief of the Berliner Abendpost
. Later, he was a correspondent for the Vossiche Zeitung and worked as a managing editor in Breslau.
At one point during the conflicts over the Upper Silesia plebiscite
, George was put before a firing squad by a Freikorps
soldier, but was able to provide a certificate of military service and was released.
After that, George was sent to Dresden
and Leipzig
as an Ullstein correspondent. In 1923, he began to make a name for himself as a theater critic, writing in the Berliner Volks-Zeitung and Acht-Uhr-Abendblatt. He worked as Arts Editor of the newspaper, Tempo, as well as Associate Editor of the cultural magazine, Marsyas.
In 1924, along with Carl von Ossietzky
, George was one of the founders of the leftist "Republikanische Partei Deutschlands" ("Republican Party of Germany"). George was the chairman of the party until it was dissolved later that year. A pacifist, George was also associated with the "Deutsche Liga für Menschenrechte" ("German League for Human Rights") and the "Friedensbund der Kriegsteilnehmer" ("Association of War Veterans for Peace"), which started an initiative that became known as the "Nie-wieder-Krieg-Bewegung" ("No More War Movement"). Both the Republikanische Partei and the Friedensbund were formed by a community of journalists and editors connected with the Berliner Volks-Zeitung. George also joined the Zionist movement
.
After leaving Ullstein, he worked at Mosse-Verlag
from 1923–1928, then returned to Ullstein. Around the end of the 1920s, he began to write radio plays. His musical revue, Oh, USA was broadcast in Berlin 50 times. He contributed to Die Weltbühne until 1932. the year he published a biography of Theodor Herzl
, with introductions by Thomas Mann
and Albert Einstein
.
in 1933, George emigrated to Czechoslovakia
. In Prague, he was the publisher of an emigrant newspaper called the Prager Montagsblatt and was one of the founding members of the "Jewish Revue". After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
, he became a war correspondent for six months, writing for newspapers in Czechoslovakia
, Switzerland
, Austria
, the Netherlands
and Romania
. After the Munich Agreement
, George continued to live in exile first in Hungary
, then Yugoslavia
, Italy
, Switzerland
and France
, finally settling in the United States. The Nazi regime expatriated him on August 5, 1938.
With an income of less than $4.00 a week, George started work in New York as editor of Aufbau
and turned it into and important journalistic voice for the Jewish exile community in the post-World War II era, leading him to be called "a central figure in Jewish journalism of the Hitler and post-Hitler period".
George became a nationalized American in 1945. The New York Times wrote after his death on December 30, 1965 in New York City
:
Leni Riefenstahl
, despite her association with Adolf Hitler
, had a close friendship with George. In her memoirs, published in 1987, she credits their friendship with keeping her from falling deeper into Nazism. However, she was accused of using her friendship with George and other Jews as "alibi-Juden" (Jewish alibis), in an attempt to whitewash her past.
In 1963, Willy Brandt
, then mayor of West Berlin
, recognized George with the "Berliner Bär" award.
George was the cousin of German poet Nelly Sachs
, who won the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature
. His sister was married to Oskar Maria Graf
, who wrote regularly for Aufbau
. George's children attended Anna Essinger
's boarding school
, Landschulheim Herrlingen and were of the 66 children moved to safety in England in 1933.
On the 40th anniversary of George's death, his son, Frank George (b. 1921), was interviewed about his father in an article on the lives of exiled intellectuals in the Jewish diaspora. Photos of artwork of George's son and grandchildren, made by his daughter-in-law, sculptor Roseanne George (1921-2011), are in the Nelly Sachs Collection, archived in Stockholm
, Sweden.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and translator. He left Germany after the Nazis came to power, living in several different European countries and eventually emigrating penniless to the United States in 1939. He became the editor of Aufbau
Aufbau
Aufbau is a journal for German-speaking Jews around the globe. It was founded in 1934 and is a member of Internationale Medienhilfe . Hannah Arendt, Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, and Stefan Zweig wrote for the publication. Until 2004 it was published in New York...
, a periodical published in German, and transformed it from a small monthly newsletter into an important weekly newspaper, especially during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the postwar era, when it became an important source of information for Jews trying to establish new lives and for Nazi concentration camp survivors to find each other. George remained Editor in Chief of Aufbau until his death.
Life in Germany
Manfred George was born on October 22, 1893 in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, the son of a businessman. He studied law at universities in Berlin, Greifswald
Greifswald
Greifswald , officially, the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald is a town in northeastern Germany. It is situated in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, at an equal distance of about from Germany's two largest cities, Berlin and Hamburg. The town borders the Baltic Sea, and is crossed...
and Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. After a serious injury during 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...
, he was discharged from military service and continued his studies, graduating in 1917 with a doctorate in law. He began his journalism career before graduation, writing for the newspaper, Deutsche Montagszeitung and he began contributing to Die Weltbühne
Die Weltbühne
Die Weltbühne was a German weekly magazine focused on politics, art, and business. The Weltbühne was founded in Berlin on 7 September 1905 by Siegfried Jacobsohn and was originally created strictly as a theater magazine under the title Die Schaubühne. It was renamed Die Weltbühne on 4 April 1918...
in 1915. He then went to work at the publisher, Ullstein-Verlag. He quickly advanced from city editor of the Berliner Morgenpost
Berliner Morgenpost
Berliner Morgenpost is a German newspaper, based and mainly read in Berlin, where it is the second most read daily newspaper. Founded in 1898 by Leopold Ullstein, it was taken over by Axel Springer AG in 1959. The paper had a circulation of 145,556 issues in 2009, with an estimated 322,000 readers...
to editor in chief of the Berliner Abendpost
Berliner Abendpost
Berliner Abendpost was a German-language daily newspaper published in Berlin. The newspaper was liberal in its political orientation....
. Later, he was a correspondent for the Vossiche Zeitung and worked as a managing editor in Breslau.
At one point during the conflicts over the Upper Silesia plebiscite
Upper Silesia plebiscite
The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a border referendum mandated by the Versailles Treaty and carried out in March 1921 to determine a section of the border between Weimar Germany and Poland. The region was ethnically mixed, chiefly among Germans, Poles and Silesians. According to prewar statistics,...
, George was put before a firing squad by a Freikorps
Freikorps
Freikorps are German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during...
soldier, but was able to provide a certificate of military service and was released.
After that, George was sent to Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
and Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
as an Ullstein correspondent. In 1923, he began to make a name for himself as a theater critic, writing in the Berliner Volks-Zeitung and Acht-Uhr-Abendblatt. He worked as Arts Editor of the newspaper, Tempo, as well as Associate Editor of the cultural magazine, Marsyas.
In 1924, along with Carl von Ossietzky
Carl von Ossietzky
Carl von Ossietzky was a German pacifist and the recipient of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize. He was convicted of high treason and espionage in 1931 after publishing details of Germany's alleged violation of the Treaty of Versailles by rebuilding an air force, the predecessor of the Luftwaffe, and...
, George was one of the founders of the leftist "Republikanische Partei Deutschlands" ("Republican Party of Germany"). George was the chairman of the party until it was dissolved later that year. A pacifist, George was also associated with the "Deutsche Liga für Menschenrechte" ("German League for Human Rights") and the "Friedensbund der Kriegsteilnehmer" ("Association of War Veterans for Peace"), which started an initiative that became known as the "Nie-wieder-Krieg-Bewegung" ("No More War Movement"). Both the Republikanische Partei and the Friedensbund were formed by a community of journalists and editors connected with the Berliner Volks-Zeitung. George also joined the Zionist movement
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
.
After leaving Ullstein, he worked at Mosse-Verlag
Rudolf Mosse
Rudolf Mosse was a German publisher and philanthropist.-Biography:Mosse was born in Grätz, Grand Duchy of Posen, as the son of Dr. Markus Moses, a noted physician...
from 1923–1928, then returned to Ullstein. Around the end of the 1920s, he began to write radio plays. His musical revue, Oh, USA was broadcast in Berlin 50 times. He contributed to Die Weltbühne until 1932. the year he published a biography of Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl , born Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl was an Ashkenazi Jew Austro-Hungarian journalist and the father of modern political Zionism and in effect the State of Israel.-Early life:...
, with introductions by 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...
.
Life in exile
When the Nazis gained control of the governmentMachtergreifung
Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
in 1933, George emigrated to Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
. In Prague, he was the publisher of an emigrant newspaper called the Prager Montagsblatt and was one of the founding members of the "Jewish Revue". After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, he became a war correspondent for six months, writing for newspapers in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. After the Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
, George continued to live in exile first in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, then Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, finally settling in the United States. The Nazi regime expatriated him on August 5, 1938.
With an income of less than $4.00 a week, George started work in New York as editor of Aufbau
Aufbau
Aufbau is a journal for German-speaking Jews around the globe. It was founded in 1934 and is a member of Internationale Medienhilfe . Hannah Arendt, Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, and Stefan Zweig wrote for the publication. Until 2004 it was published in New York...
and turned it into and important journalistic voice for the Jewish exile community in the post-World War II era, leading him to be called "a central figure in Jewish journalism of the Hitler and post-Hitler period".
George became a nationalized American in 1945. The New York Times wrote after his death on December 30, 1965 in 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...
:
- Dr. George, a biographer and novelist, who was known as a liberal editor in Germany before the rise of HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, became editor of Aufbau in 1939, after arriving here as a penniless refugee. Aufbau was then a small monthly newsletter published by the German Jewish Club of New York, which is now the New World Club, Inc. Dr. George marshaled a distinguished advisory board, including Albert Einstein and Thomas Mann, and built the publication into an influential weekly with a circulation of 30,000.
Personal
George was married to Jeanette (née Simon), a social worker, in 1920. They had two children, a son, Frank, who became an architect and a daughter, Renée, who became a book designer.Leni Riefenstahl
Leni Riefenstahl
Helene Bertha Amalie "Leni" Riefenstahl was a German film director, actress and dancer widely noted for her aesthetics and innovations as a filmmaker. Her most famous film was Triumph des Willens , a propaganda film made at the 1934 Nuremberg congress of the Nazi Party...
, despite her association with Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, had a close friendship with George. In her memoirs, published in 1987, she credits their friendship with keeping her from falling deeper into Nazism. However, she was accused of using her friendship with George and other Jews as "alibi-Juden" (Jewish alibis), in an attempt to whitewash her past.
In 1963, Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt, born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm , was a German politician, Mayor of West Berlin 1957–1966, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany 1964–1987....
, then mayor of West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
, recognized George with the "Berliner Bär" award.
George was the cousin of German poet Nelly Sachs
Nelly Sachs
Nelly Sachs was a Jewish German poet and playwright whose experiences resulting from the rise of the Nazis in World War II Europe transformed her into a poignant spokeswoman for the grief and yearnings of her fellow Jews...
, who won the 1966 Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
. His sister was married to Oskar Maria Graf
Oskar Maria Graf
Oskar Maria Graf was a German author.He wrote several socialist-anarchist novels and narratives about life in Bavaria, mostly autobiographical.In the beginning Graf wrote under his real name Oskar Graf...
, who wrote regularly for Aufbau
Aufbau
Aufbau is a journal for German-speaking Jews around the globe. It was founded in 1934 and is a member of Internationale Medienhilfe . Hannah Arendt, Albert Einstein, Thomas Mann, and Stefan Zweig wrote for the publication. Until 2004 it was published in New York...
. George's children attended Anna Essinger
Anna Essinger
Anna Essinger was a German-Jewish educator. At the age of 20, she went to finish her education in the United States, where she encountered Quakers and was greatly influenced by their attitudes, adopting them for her own...
's boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
, Landschulheim Herrlingen and were of the 66 children moved to safety in England in 1933.
On the 40th anniversary of George's death, his son, Frank George (b. 1921), was interviewed about his father in an article on the lives of exiled intellectuals in the Jewish diaspora. Photos of artwork of George's son and grandchildren, made by his daughter-in-law, sculptor Roseanne George (1921-2011), are in the Nelly Sachs Collection, archived in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden.
Selected works by Manfred George
- Die verlorene Nacht, Berlin (1920)
- Der Schrei des Hauptmann Baldus, Berlin (1922)
- Räubergeschichten, Vienna (1927)
- Aufruhr im Warenhaus, Berlin (1928)
- Theodor Herzl. Sein Leben und sein Vermächtnis, Berlin/Vienna/Leipzig (1932)
- The Case of Ivar Kreuger, London (1933), translated from the original German
- Männer, Frauen, Waffen, Locarno (1937)
Further reading
- Daniel Müller. Manfred Georg und die »Jüdische Revue«. Eine Exilzeitschrift in der Tschechoslowakei 1936-1938. Constance (2000)
- Friedhelm Greis and Stefanie Oswalt (Editors), Aus Teutschland Deutschland machen Foreword by Heribert Prenatal. Collection of articles from Die Weltbühne, including one by Manfred George. Lukas Verlag (June 2008) ISBN 978-3-86732-026-9
External links
- Manfred George Collection, 1933-1965 (Ger-038) German and Jewish Intellectual Émigré Collection, M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections and Archives, State University of New York Albany. Retrieved October 6, 2011
- Manfred George collection Deutsches Literatur Archiv Marbach
- Archive of the German exile press German National Library (Deutsche National Bibliothek). Includes archives of Aufbau from 1934–1950 and Acht-Uhr-Abendblatt
- Aufbau Official website