Rudolf Olden
Encyclopedia
Rudolf Olden was a German
lawyer
and journalist
. In the Weimar-period
he was a well known voice in the political debate, a vocal opponent of the Nazis, a fierce advocate of human rights and one of the first to alert the world to the treatment of Jews by the Nazis in 1934. He is the author of Hitler der Eroberer. Entlarvung einer Legende ("Hitler the Conqueror, Debunking the Myth") which is considered part of the German exile literature
. The book was promptly banned by the Nazis
. Shortly after its publication by Querido in Amsterdam
, Olden's citizenship was revoked and he emigrated, together with his wife, to the United States
. On September 18th both died in a U-boat
attack on the SS City of Benares
in the Atlantic.
Rudolf Olden was born in Stettin (now Szczecin
) as the son of the author Johann Oppenheim, (who changed his name to Hans Olden in 1891) and the actress Rosa Stein and the younger brother of the author Balder Olden. After completing his education, he chose a military career and joined the Leib-Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 24 in Darmstadt
. During World War I, he was first stationed in Belgium
, but was transferred to the eastern front in 1915. Olden survived the war as a First Lieutenant
.
The war left a lasting impression and, once it ended, Olden left the army and started as editor of the pacifistic
periodical Der Friede ("Peace") in Vienna
and Der Neue Tag. In 1920 he married
the psychoanalyst Marie-Christine Fournier, the daughter of the Viennese historian Prof. August Fournier and was soon absorbed into the circles of journalists and writers. After Der Neue Tag went bankrupt, he founded a magazine (Er und Sie, "Him and Her"), dedicated to Lebenskultur und Erotik, which was soon at the center of a heated debate about public morals and common decency.
In 1926 Olden was asked to come to Berlin
by Theodor Wolff, publisher of the Berliner Tageblatt
, where he soon caused some uproar with his editorials. Olden soon became Editor in Chief and also wrote for other publications, such as Die Menschenrechte (Human Rights), Das Tage-Buch (The Diary) and Die Weltbühne
(The Global Stage).
In the same year, Olden was admitted as a lawyer and for a number of years practiced law. In 1931 he was chosen to be a member of the managing board of the Deutsche Liga für Menschenrechte (German league for Human Rights) and in the same year he defended Carl von Ossietzky
, who was prosecuted for insulting the Reichswehr, because he allowed Kurt Tucholsky
to coin the phrase Soldaten sind Mörder (Soldiers are killers). Olden's defense was successful and Von Ossietzky was aquitted.
In 1933 Olden addressed the Schutzbund deutscher Schriftsteller ("protective union of German authors") and invited them to the congress Das Freie Wort (the free word) in the Krolloper
two days later. 1500 artists, authors, scientists and politicians accepted the invitation to protest against the increasing pressure on artistic, journalistic and academic freedoms. It was the last congress organized by the liberal
, social democratic
and communist
parties until 1945.
, Olden was warned by friends and was barely able to escape arrest. He traveled to Prague where he published the essay
-version of Hitler der Eroberer anonymously. From Prague he traveled to Paris
, where he published the noted Schwarzbuch über die Lage der Juden in Deutschland, the "Black Book on the Situation of the Jews in Germany", in which he warned about the atrocities already commonplace in Germany. He also acted as editor in chief for Das Reich, a newspaper in Saarbrücken
, and opposed the reintegration of the Saarland
into Nazi Germany.
In this period, Olden could only publish in a few exile magazines, such as Das neue Tage-Buch, Pariser Tageblatt and Die Sammlung
. Because of these articles he was invited by the diplomat Gilbert Murray
to lecture on German history and politics in Oxford and London, an invitation he gladly accepted.
In 1934 he became the de facto secretary of the German P.E.N.
chapter in exile and, even though he was never formally elected or appointed, he performed his duties very diligently, providing visas and contacts and seeing to the material needs of fugitive authors. In 1935 an extended version of the essay he wrote in Prague was published as a book by Querido in Amsterdam. In 1936 the book was published in English as Hitler the Pawn.
In 1936 his German citizenship was revoked while Olden continued his work as secretary of the P.E.N. in London and lobbied the Nobel Committee
on behalf of Carl von Ossietzky, whom the Nazis had incarcerated. In 1939, at the outbreak of war, Olden was interned and fell ill. In this period he accepted an invitation to lecture at the New School of Social Research in New York
. Earlier the couple had sent their daughter Mary Elizabeth on a child transport to Canada.
On boarding the SS City of Benares
, his passport was stamped with the ominous words No Return. On the 18th of September 1940 the City of Benares was torpedoed
by the U 48. 248 people died, amongst whom were 90 British children being evacuated to Canada. Rudolf Olden died at the age of 55.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and journalist
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...
. In the Weimar-period
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
he was a well known voice in the political debate, a vocal opponent of the Nazis, a fierce advocate of human rights and one of the first to alert the world to the treatment of Jews by the Nazis in 1934. He is the author of Hitler der Eroberer. Entlarvung einer Legende ("Hitler the Conqueror, Debunking the Myth") which is considered part of the German exile literature
Exilliteratur
German Exilliteratur is the name for a category of books in the German language written by writers of anti-nazi attitude who fled from Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945...
. The book was promptly banned by the Nazis
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Shortly after its publication by Querido in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, Olden's citizenship was revoked and he emigrated, together with his wife, to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. On September 18th both died in a U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
attack on the SS City of Benares
SS City of Benares
SS City of Benares was a steam passenger ship built for Ellerman Lines by Barclay, Curle & Co of Glasgow in 1936. During the Second World War the City of Benares was used as an evacuee ship to evacuate 90 children from Britain to Canada. The ship was purposefully targeted and torpedoed by the ...
in the Atlantic.
World War I and the Interbellum
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
) as the son of the author Johann Oppenheim, (who changed his name to Hans Olden in 1891) and the actress Rosa Stein and the younger brother of the author Balder Olden. After completing his education, he chose a military career and joined the Leib-Dragoner-Regiment Nr. 24 in Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
. During World War I, he was first stationed in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, but was transferred to the eastern front in 1915. Olden survived the war as a First Lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
.
The war left a lasting impression and, once it ended, Olden left the army and started as editor of the pacifistic
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
periodical Der Friede ("Peace") in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and Der Neue Tag. In 1920 he married
the psychoanalyst Marie-Christine Fournier, the daughter of the Viennese historian Prof. August Fournier and was soon absorbed into the circles of journalists and writers. After Der Neue Tag went bankrupt, he founded a magazine (Er und Sie, "Him and Her"), dedicated to Lebenskultur und Erotik, which was soon at the center of a heated debate about public morals and common decency.
In 1926 Olden was asked to come to Berlin
Berlin
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...
by Theodor Wolff, publisher of the Berliner Tageblatt
Berliner Tageblatt
The Berliner Tageblatt or BT was a German language newspaper published in Berlin from 1872-1939. Along with the Frankfurter Zeitung, it became one of the most important liberal German newspapers of its time.-History:...
, where he soon caused some uproar with his editorials. Olden soon became Editor in Chief and also wrote for other publications, such as Die Menschenrechte (Human Rights), Das Tage-Buch (The Diary) and 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...
(The Global Stage).
In the same year, Olden was admitted as a lawyer and for a number of years practiced law. In 1931 he was chosen to be a member of the managing board of the Deutsche Liga für Menschenrechte (German league for Human Rights) and in the same year he defended 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...
, who was prosecuted for insulting the Reichswehr, because he allowed Kurt Tucholsky
Kurt Tucholsky
Kurt Tucholsky was a German-Jewish journalist, satirist and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser, Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wrobel. Born in Berlin-Moabit, he moved to Paris in 1924 and then to Sweden in 1930.Tucholsky was one of the most important journalists of...
to coin the phrase Soldaten sind Mörder (Soldiers are killers). Olden's defense was successful and Von Ossietzky was aquitted.
In 1933 Olden addressed the Schutzbund deutscher Schriftsteller ("protective union of German authors") and invited them to the congress Das Freie Wort (the free word) in the Krolloper
Krolloper
The Kroll Opera House was an opera building in Berlin, Germany, located in the central Tiergarten district on the western edge of the Königsplatz square , facing the Reichstag building. It was built in 1844 as an entertainment venue for the restaurant owner Joseph Kroll...
two days later. 1500 artists, authors, scientists and politicians accepted the invitation to protest against the increasing pressure on artistic, journalistic and academic freedoms. It was the last congress organized by the liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
, social democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
and communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
parties until 1945.
The Third Reich
After the Reichstag fireReichstag fire
The Reichstag fire was an arson attack on the Reichstag building in Berlin on 27 February 1933. The event is seen as pivotal in the establishment of Nazi Germany....
, Olden was warned by friends and was barely able to escape arrest. He traveled to Prague where he published the essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
-version of Hitler der Eroberer anonymously. From Prague he traveled to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he published the noted Schwarzbuch über die Lage der Juden in Deutschland, the "Black Book on the Situation of the Jews in Germany", in which he warned about the atrocities already commonplace in Germany. He also acted as editor in chief for Das Reich, a newspaper in Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
, and opposed the reintegration of the Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
into Nazi Germany.
In this period, Olden could only publish in a few exile magazines, such as Das neue Tage-Buch, Pariser Tageblatt and Die Sammlung
Die Sammlung
Die Sammlung was a monthly literary magazine, first published in September 1933 in Amsterdam, and primarily affiliated with a number of influential German writers who fled from the Hitler regime during the first years of the establishment and consolidation of Nazi rule.The magazine was primarily...
. Because of these articles he was invited by the diplomat Gilbert Murray
Gilbert Murray
George Gilbert Aimé Murray, OM was an Australian born British classical scholar and public intellectual, with connections in many spheres. He was an outstanding scholar of the language and culture of Ancient Greece, perhaps the leading authority in the first half of the twentieth century...
to lecture on German history and politics in Oxford and London, an invitation he gladly accepted.
In 1934 he became the de facto secretary of the German P.E.N.
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
chapter in exile and, even though he was never formally elected or appointed, he performed his duties very diligently, providing visas and contacts and seeing to the material needs of fugitive authors. In 1935 an extended version of the essay he wrote in Prague was published as a book by Querido in Amsterdam. In 1936 the book was published in English as Hitler the Pawn.
In 1936 his German citizenship was revoked while Olden continued his work as secretary of the P.E.N. in London and lobbied the Nobel Committee
Nobel Committee
A Nobel Committee is the working body responsible for the most of the work involved in selecting Nobel Prize laureates. There are five Nobel Committees, one for each Nobel Prize....
on behalf of Carl von Ossietzky, whom the Nazis had incarcerated. In 1939, at the outbreak of war, Olden was interned and fell ill. In this period he accepted an invitation to lecture at the New School of Social Research in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Earlier the couple had sent their daughter Mary Elizabeth on a child transport to Canada.
On boarding the SS City of Benares
SS City of Benares
SS City of Benares was a steam passenger ship built for Ellerman Lines by Barclay, Curle & Co of Glasgow in 1936. During the Second World War the City of Benares was used as an evacuee ship to evacuate 90 children from Britain to Canada. The ship was purposefully targeted and torpedoed by the ...
, his passport was stamped with the ominous words No Return. On the 18th of September 1940 the City of Benares was torpedoed
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
by the U 48. 248 people died, amongst whom were 90 British children being evacuated to Canada. Rudolf Olden died at the age of 55.
Postumous publications
- Die Geschichte der Freiheit in Deutschland. Verlag "Das andere Deutschland" 1948.
- In tiefem Dunkel liegt Deutschland. Von Hitler vertrieben, ein Jahr deutsche Emigration. Metropol-Verlag, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-926893-20-6.
- So viele Bücher, so viele Verbote. Ausstellung "Der deutsche PEN-Club im Exil 1933-1948". Buchhändler-Vereinigung, Frankfurt/M. 1981, ISBN 3-7657-1039-3.
Literature
- Deutsche Nationalbibliothek: Ausstellungskatalog Rudolf Olden: Journalist gegen Hitler - Anwalt der Republik, Frankfurt am Main 2010 ISBN 978-3-941113-23-7
- Ingo Müller: Rudolf Olden (1885-1940). Journalist und Anwalt der Republik. In: Redaktion „Kritische Justiz“ (Hrsg.), Streitbare Juristen. Eine andere Tradition, 1988 Baden-Baden p.180.
Sources
- Hitler der Eroberer, preface by Werner Berthold, Fisher Taschenbuch Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main, January 1984, in the series verboten und verbrannt/Exil, ISBN 1280-3-596-25185-0