Stefan Heym
Encyclopedia
Helmut Flieg was a German
-Jewish writer
, known by his pseudonym
Stefan Heym. He lived in the United States
(or served in its army abroad) between 1935 and 1952, before moving back to the part of his native Germany which was, from 1949–1990, German Democratic Republic
(GDR, "East Germany"). He published works in English and German at home and abroad, and despite longstanding criticism of the GDR remained a committed socialist.
, was an antifascist from an early age. In 1931 he was, at the instigation of local Nazis
, expelled from the Gymnasium
in his home town because of an anti-military
poem. He completed school in Berlin
, and began a degree in media studies
there. After the 1933 Reichstag fire
he fled to Czechoslovakia
, where he took the name Stefan Heym. In Czechoslovakia, the only remaining democracy in Central Europe at that time, he worked for German newspapers published in Prague such as Prager Tagblatt
and Deutsche Zeitung Bohemia and also managed to have some of his articles published in translation by Czech newspapers. During this time he signed his articles under several pseudonyms, Melchior Douglas, Gregor Holm and Stefan Heym.
to continue his degree at the University of Chicago
, which he completed in 1936 with a dissertation on Heinrich Heine
. Between 1937 and 1939 he was based in New York
as Editor-in-Chief of the German-language weekly Deutsches Volksecho, which was close to the Communist Party of the USA. After the newspaper ceased publication in November 1939, Heym worked as a freelance author in English, and achieved a bestseller
with his first novel
, Hostages (1942).
From 1943 Heym, now an American citizen, contributed to the World War II
war effort. As member of the Ritchie Boys
, a unit for psychological warfare
under the command of émigré
Hans Habe
, he experienced the 1944 Normandy landings
. His work consisted of composing texts designed to influence Wehrmacht
soldiers, to be disseminated by leaflet, radio and loudspeaker. These experiences formed the background for a later novel, The Crusaders, and were the basis for Reden an den Feind (Speeches to the Enemy), a collection of those texts. After the war Heym led the Ruhrzeitung in Essen
, and then became editor in Munich
of the Neue Zeitung, one of the most important newspapers of the American occupying forces. Because of his pro-Soviet inclinations Heym was transferred back to the US towards the end of 1945 and was discharged because of "procommunistic" mindset.
In the following years he worked as a freelance author once again. In 1952 he gave all his American military commendations back in protest of the Korean War
and moving first to Prague
, and in the following year to the German Democratic Republic
(GDR, "East Germany").
, thereafter primarily as a freelance author. In the early years of his life in the GDR Heym supported the regime with socialist novels and other works. Heym's works, which he continued to write in English, were published by a publishing house founded for him, named Seven Seas Publishers, and in German translation were printed in large numbers.
Conflicts with the GDR authorities became apparent from 1956 on, as despite the destalinisation of the leadership the publication of Heym's book on the 17 June 1953 uprising, Five Days in June, was rejected. Tensions increased after 1965, when Erich Honecker
attacked Heym during an SED
party conference. In 1969 Heym was convicted of breaching the exchange control regulations after publishing his novel Lassalle in West Germany
. He was nonetheless able to leave the GDR on foreign trips, such his two-month visit to the US in 1978, and his books continued to appear, albeit in lower print runs, in the GDR.
In 1976 Heym was among those GDR authors who signed the petition protesting the exile of Wolf Biermann
. From this point on Heym could only publish his works in the West, and he began composing works in German. In 1979 he was again convicted of breaching exchange controls and excluded from the GDR Authors Association. Heym expressed support for German reunification
as early as 1982, and during the 1980s supported the civil rights movement in the GDR, contributing a number of speeches to the East Berlin
demonstrations in autumn 1989.
of the reunited Germany. At the federal elections in 1994 Heym stood as an independent on the Open List of the then Party of Democratic Socialism, and won direct election to the Bundestag
from the seat of Berlin-Mitte/Prenzlauer-Berg. As chairman by seniority he held the opening speech of the new Parliament in November 1994, but resigned in October 1995 in protest against a planned constitutional amendment raising MPs' expense allowances. In 1997 he was among the signers of the "Erfurt Declaration", demanding a red-green alliance (between SPD
and Greens) to form a minority government supported by the PDS after the 1998 federal elections. He died suddenly of heart failure in Ein Bokek
in Israel
whilst attending a Heinrich Heine Conference.
Heym was honoured with honorary doctorates from the University of Bern (1990) and University of Cambridge
(1991), and honorary citizenship of Chemnitz
, his birthplace (2001). He was also awarded the Jerusalem Prize
(1993) for literature 'for the freedom of the individual in society', and the peace medal of the IPPNW
. Previously he had won the Heinrich-Mann-Prize (1953), and the National Prize of the GDR
, 2nd class (1959).
He was buried in the Weißensee Cemetery
.
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...
-Jewish writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, known by his pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Stefan Heym. He lived in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(or served in its army abroad) between 1935 and 1952, before moving back to the part of his native Germany which was, from 1949–1990, German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
(GDR, "East Germany"). He published works in English and German at home and abroad, and despite longstanding criticism of the GDR remained a committed socialist.
Early life
Helmut Flieg, born to a Jewish merchant family in ChemnitzChemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
, was an antifascist from an early age. In 1931 he was, at the instigation of local Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, expelled from the Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in his home town because of an anti-military
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 :...
poem. He completed school in 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...
, and began a degree in media studies
Media studies
Media studies is an academic discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history and effects of various media; in particular, the 'mass media'. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly from its core disciplines of mass...
there. After the 1933 Reichstag fire
Reichstag 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....
he fled 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...
, where he took the name Stefan Heym. In Czechoslovakia, the only remaining democracy in Central Europe at that time, he worked for German newspapers published in Prague such as Prager Tagblatt
Prager Tagblatt
The Prager Tagblatt was a German language newspaper published in Prague from 1876 to 1939. It was considered to be the most influential liberal-democratic German newspaper in Bohemia. It stopped publication after the German invasion of Czechoslovakia...
and Deutsche Zeitung Bohemia and also managed to have some of his articles published in translation by Czech newspapers. During this time he signed his articles under several pseudonyms, Melchior Douglas, Gregor Holm and Stefan Heym.
United States
In 1935 he received a grant from a Jewish student association, and went to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to continue his degree at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, which he completed in 1936 with a dissertation on Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
. Between 1937 and 1939 he was based 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...
as Editor-in-Chief of the German-language weekly Deutsches Volksecho, which was close to the Communist Party of the USA. After the newspaper ceased publication in November 1939, Heym worked as a freelance author in English, and achieved a bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
with his first novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, Hostages (1942).
From 1943 Heym, now an American citizen, contributed to the 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...
war effort. As member of the Ritchie Boys
Ritchie Boys
The Ritchie Boys was a US special military intelligence unit in World War II comprising mainly German-speaking immigrants to the USA. They were predominately Jews, most of whom had fled Nazi persecution...
, a unit for psychological warfare
Psychological warfare
Psychological warfare , or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations , have been known by many other names or terms, including Psy Ops, Political Warfare, “Hearts and Minds,” and Propaganda...
under the command of émigré
Émigré
Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out", but often carries a connotation of politico-social self-exile....
Hans Habe
Hans Habe
Janos Békessy, better known under his pen name Hans Habe was an Austrian writer and newspaper publisher...
, he experienced the 1944 Normandy landings
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
. His work consisted of composing texts designed to influence Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
soldiers, to be disseminated by leaflet, radio and loudspeaker. These experiences formed the background for a later novel, The Crusaders, and were the basis for Reden an den Feind (Speeches to the Enemy), a collection of those texts. After the war Heym led the Ruhrzeitung in Essen
Essen
- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
, and then became editor in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
of the Neue Zeitung, one of the most important newspapers of the American occupying forces. Because of his pro-Soviet inclinations Heym was transferred back to the US towards the end of 1945 and was discharged because of "procommunistic" mindset.
In the following years he worked as a freelance author once again. In 1952 he gave all his American military commendations back in protest of the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and moving first to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, and in the following year to the German Democratic Republic
German Democratic Republic
The German Democratic Republic , informally called East Germany by West Germany and other countries, was a socialist state established in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city...
(GDR, "East Germany").
GDR
In the GDR Heym initially received privileged treatment as a returning antifascist emigre. He lived with his wife in a state-provided villa in Berlin-Grünau. Between 1953 and 1956 he worked at the Berliner ZeitungBerliner Zeitung
The Berliner Zeitung, founded in 1945, is a German center-left daily newspaper based in Berlin, published by Berliner Verlag. It is the only East German paper to achieve national prominence since unification. In 2003, the Berliner was Berlin's largest subscription newspaper—the weekend...
, thereafter primarily as a freelance author. In the early years of his life in the GDR Heym supported the regime with socialist novels and other works. Heym's works, which he continued to write in English, were published by a publishing house founded for him, named Seven Seas Publishers, and in German translation were printed in large numbers.
Conflicts with the GDR authorities became apparent from 1956 on, as despite the destalinisation of the leadership the publication of Heym's book on the 17 June 1953 uprising, Five Days in June, was rejected. Tensions increased after 1965, when Erich Honecker
Erich Honecker
Erich Honecker was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic as General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party from 1971 until 1989, serving as Head of State as well from Willi Stoph's relinquishment of that post in 1976....
attacked Heym during an SED
Socialist Unity Party of Germany
The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990. The SED was a communist political party with a Marxist-Leninist ideology...
party conference. In 1969 Heym was convicted of breaching the exchange control regulations after publishing his novel Lassalle in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. He was nonetheless able to leave the GDR on foreign trips, such his two-month visit to the US in 1978, and his books continued to appear, albeit in lower print runs, in the GDR.
In 1976 Heym was among those GDR authors who signed the petition protesting the exile of Wolf Biermann
Wolf Biermann
Karl Wolf Biermann is a German singer-songwriter and former East German dissident.-Early life:Biermann's father, who worked on the Hamburg docks, was a German Jew and a member of the German Resistance....
. From this point on Heym could only publish his works in the West, and he began composing works in German. In 1979 he was again convicted of breaching exchange controls and excluded from the GDR Authors Association. Heym expressed support for German reunification
German reunification
German reunification was the process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany , and when Berlin reunited into a single city, as provided by its then Grundgesetz constitution Article 23. The start of this process is commonly referred by Germans as die...
as early as 1982, and during the 1980s supported the civil rights movement in the GDR, contributing a number of speeches to the East Berlin
East Berlin
East Berlin was the name given to the eastern part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. It consisted of the Soviet sector of Berlin that was established in 1945. The American, British and French sectors became West Berlin, a part strongly associated with West Germany but a free city...
demonstrations in autumn 1989.
After reunification
In the years after reunification Heym was critical of what he saw as the discrimination against East Germans in their integration into the Federal Republic, and argued for a socialist alternative to the capitalismCapitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
of the reunited Germany. At the federal elections in 1994 Heym stood as an independent on the Open List of the then Party of Democratic Socialism, and won direct election to the Bundestag
Bundestag
The Bundestag is a federal legislative body in Germany. In practice Germany is governed by a bicameral legislature, of which the Bundestag serves as the lower house and the Bundesrat the upper house. The Bundestag is established by the German Basic Law of 1949, as the successor to the earlier...
from the seat of Berlin-Mitte/Prenzlauer-Berg. As chairman by seniority he held the opening speech of the new Parliament in November 1994, but resigned in October 1995 in protest against a planned constitutional amendment raising MPs' expense allowances. In 1997 he was among the signers of the "Erfurt Declaration", demanding a red-green alliance (between SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
and Greens) to form a minority government supported by the PDS after the 1998 federal elections. He died suddenly of heart failure in Ein Bokek
Ein Bokek
Ein Bokek is a hotel and resort district on the Israeli shore of the Dead Sea, near Neve Zohar. It is under the jurisdiction of the Tamar Regional Council....
in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
whilst attending a Heinrich Heine Conference.
Heym was honoured with honorary doctorates from the University of Bern (1990) and University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
(1991), and honorary citizenship of Chemnitz
Chemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
, his birthplace (2001). He was also awarded the Jerusalem Prize
Jerusalem Prize
The Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society is a biennial literary award given to writers whose works have dealt with themes of human freedom in society. It is awarded at the Jerusalem International Book Fair, and the recipient usually delivers an address when accepting the award...
(1993) for literature 'for the freedom of the individual in society', and the peace medal of the IPPNW
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
is a non-partisan federation of national medical groups in 63 countries, representing tens of thousands of doctors, medical students, other health workers, and concerned citizens who share the common goal of creating a more peaceful and secure world freed from the threat of nuclear annihilation...
. Previously he had won the Heinrich-Mann-Prize (1953), and the National Prize of the GDR
National Prize of East Germany
The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic was an award of the German Democratic Republic given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, and other meritorious achievement...
, 2nd class (1959).
He was buried in the Weißensee Cemetery
Weißensee Cemetery
The Weißensee Cemetery is a Jewish cemetery located in the neighborhood of Weißensee in Berlin, Germany. It is the second largest Jewish cemetery in Europe. The cemetery covers approximately and contains approximately 115,000 graves. It was dedicated in 1880....
.
Written in English
- Nazis in U.S.A., New York 1938
- Hostages, New York 1942
- Of Smiling Peace, Boston 1944
- The Crusaders, Boston 1948
- The Eyes of Reason, Boston 1951
- Goldsborough (novel)Goldsborough (novel)Goldsborough is a proletarian novel by the German-American writer Stefan Heym.It depicts a coal miners’ strike during 1949-1950 set in the fictional Goldsborough, Pennsylvania, a company town near Pittsburgh. The protagonist is Carlisle Kennedy, head of a large family and himself a miner...
, Leipzig 1953 - The Cannibals and Other Stories, Berlin 1958
- The Cosmic Age, New Delhi 1959
- Shadows and Lights, London 1963
- The Lenz Papers, London 1964 - concerns the failed revolutions in Germany in 1848
- The Architects written c 1963 - 1965, unpublished (published in German as Die Architekten, Munich 2000)- (Published in English under "The Architects" by Northwestern in 2005. ISBN 0-8101-2044-5)
- Uncertain Friend, London 1969
- The King David Report, New York 1973
- The Queen against Defoe, London 1975
- Five Days in June, London 1977 - concerns the 1953 uprisings in the GDR
Written in German
- Collin (1979)
- Der kleine König, der ein Kind kriegen mußte und andere neue Märchen für kluge Kinder (1979)
- Ahasver (1981) - published in English as The Wandering JewWandering JewThe Wandering Jew is a figure from medieval Christian folklore whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. The original legend concerns a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion and was then cursed to walk the earth until the Second Coming...
(1984) - Atta Troll. Versuch einer Analyse (1983 )
- Schwarzenberg (1984) - about the Free Republic of SchwarzenbergFree Republic of SchwarzenbergThe Free Republic of Schwarzenberg is a term now used for an unoccupied area in Western Saxony that existed for several weeks after the German capitulation on May 8, 1945. After the surrender of Germany, the districts of Schwarzenberg, Stollberg and Aue, in the Ore Mountains, were left unoccupied,...
- Reden an den Feind (1986)
- Nachruf (1988) - autobiography
- Meine Cousine, die Hexe und weitere Märchen für kluge Kinder (1989
- Auf Sand gebaut (1990) - short stories
- Stalin verlässt den Raum (1990) - political writings
- Einmischung (1990)
- Filz (1992)
- RadekKarl RadekKarl Bernhardovic Radek was a socialist active in the Polish and German movements before World War I and an international Communist leader after the Russian Revolution....
(1995) - Der Winter unsers Missvergnügens (1996)
- Immer sind die Weiber weg und andere Weisheiten (1997)
- Pargfrider (1998)
- Immer sind die Männer schuld (2002)
- Offene Worte in eigener Sache (2003)
Further reading
- Małgorzata Dubrowska: Auseinandersetzung mit der jüdischen Identität in Werken ausgewählter Schriftsteller aus der DDR, Lublin, 2002. ISBN 8-3730-6065-0.
- Hermann Gellermann: Stefan Heym: Judentum und Sozialismus. Zusammenhänge und Probleme in Literatur und Gesellschaft, Berlin, 2002. ISBN 3-9320-8986-3
- Regina U. Hahn: The democratic dream, Oxford, 2003. ISBN 0-8204-5865-1
- Peter Hutchinson: Stefan Heym: the perpetual dissident, Cambridge, 1992. ISBN 0-5214-0438-X
- Peter Hutchinson (ed.): Stefan Heym: socialist - dissenter - Jew, Oxford, 2003. ISBN 3-9067-6971-2
- Meg Tait: Taking sides: Stefan Heym’s historical fiction, Oxford, 2001. ISBN 3-9067-6642-X
- Dennis Tate: Shifting perspectives: East German autobiographical narratives before and after the end of the GDR, Columbia (SC), 2007. ISBN 1-5711-3372-0
- Reinhard K. Zachau: Stefan Heym, München, 1982. ISBN 3-4060-8420-6
External links
- International Stefan Heym Association
- Stefan Heym, Five Days in June book essay by Elizabeth Clark