Un-American Activities • CD

Lion Feuchtwanger, born July 7, 1884, was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. Born into an affluent family – his father owned a margarine factory in Munich – Feuchtwanger was the eldest of nine siblings, two of whom also became authors. An early and outspoken opponent of the National Socialists, Feuchtwanger was among the first to be declared an official enemy of the state in Germany. His books were subsequently burnt, and his citizenship revoked.

In 1933, the now stateless Feuchtwanger sought safety in France. There, however, he would be imprisoned twice. First with the declaration of war in 1939, and again in 1940 after Hitler invaded France. With the SS drawing closer, Feuchtwanger managed to escape captivity following the intervention of, among others, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. A long-time reader who happened to recognise his face in a photo of work camp inmates, Roosevelt helped to facilitate his treacherous escape from Europe. Arriving in Portugal via Spain, he boarded a ship bound for America: the Excalibur. Travelling with a false passport under the name “Wetcheeks,” the literal English translation of his name, Feuchtwanger crossed the Atlantic. He arrived in America in 1941. The Feuchtwangers eventually settled in the outskirts of Los Angeles, purchasing their home for $9,000, equivalent to the annual salary of a teacher at that time. From 1943, he continued to work and write alongside famous, LA-based exiles like Bertolt Brecht and Thomas Mann. Both were close friends and frequent house guests – though never both at the same time. He and his wife Marta established themselves in their villa, which became a meeting point, literary salon, and a bastion for anti-fascists and leftist intellectuals on the West Coast.

As World War II ended and the Cold War began, wartime allies became new enemies. In the McCarthy era “Red Scare” that ensued, suspicion of leftists turned into hatred. Thousands of real or suspected communists were persecuted in a series of public hearings held by the Committee of Un-American Activities. Many of those called as witnesses were humiliated, defamed, and blacklisted as a result. Countless lives and careers were destroyed by these hearings, and many suicides followed in their wake. Bertolt Brecht left America the day after taking the witness stand, never to return. Lion Feuchtwanger never had to face the committee, but his association with and open sympathy for the USSR prevented him from obtaining American citizenship, and thereby a passport with which to travel.

Lion Feuchtwanger died in 1956 after fifteen years in the USA. He was still stateless at the time of his death. Marta continued to live in the villa until her passing in 1986, leaving the estate and its immense library, which included more than 20,000 volumes, to USC. The property was eventually sold to the German state, which it now uses to host artist residencies, with several fellowships in various artistic fields provided each year.

This record commemorates the 140th birthday of Lion Feuchtwanger.