ESCAPE TO LIFE - German culture in exile

Escape to Life is a Who's Who of German culture in exile.
Erika and Klaus Mann portray the most important personalities of Germany's intellectual elite who were driven into exile by Hitler. There is hardly a significant name missing from the alliance against fascism listed here. From Albert Einstein to Bertolt Brecht, from Carl Zuckmayer to George Grosz, the list of artists and scientists is presented in very personal essays.
When the book was first published in 1939, it was intended to give American readers a picture of the diversity and richness of German culture in exile. Today it is a unique document: the most comprehensive, colorful account of the “Other Germany” written during the Third Reich.

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  • Publisher: Rowohlt Taschenbuch
  • Release: 01.11.1996
  • ISBN: 978-3-499-13992-5
  • 424 Pages
  • Authors: Erika MannKlaus Mann
  • Edited by: Heribert Hoven

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Buchcover von ESCAPE TO LIFE - German culture in exile: Deutsche Kultur im Exil
Erika Mann Klaus Mann ESCAPE TO LIFE - German culture in exile
Portrait von Erika Mann
© Rowohlt Verlag
Erika Mann

Erika Mann was born on 9 November 1905 in Munich. She first worked as an actress and journalist. At the beginning of 1933 she founded the cabaret "Die Pfeffermühle" in Munich; a few weeks later she went into exile with the whole troupe. From 1936 she lived mainly in the USA as a lecturer and publicist. During the Second World War, she participated in the BBC's German programs and was a war correspondent for the Allies. In 1952 she returned to Europe with her parents. She died in Zurich on the 27th of August, 1969.

Portrait von Klaus Mann
© Literaturarchiv der Monacensia, München
Klaus Mann

Klaus Mann was born in Munich in 1906, the first child of Thomas and Katia Mann. He began his literary career as the enfant terrible of the Weimar Republic. After 1933 he became an important figure in the German literary elite that had been forced into exile by the Nazis. Klaus Mann’s death in 1949 in Cannes was caused by an overdose of sleeping pills.