Escape to Life: Exile and Refugee Experiences 1933-1945

In this course we will explore the experiences of those who fled persecution from Nazi Germany after 1933. Using literary texts, autobiographies, documentaries, photographs, and letters, we will follow escape routes through Europe and to overseas and will learn about international refugee politics, the “Kindertransporte,” and American journalist Varian Fry’s rescue network. Of special interest will be centers of exile culture in New York and Los Angeles/Hollywood, where famous intellectuals and artists such as Thomas and Heinrich Mann, Hannah Arendt , Bertolt Brecht, Marlene Dietrich, Billy Wilder, and many more found new or temporary homes and where many engaged in anti-Nazi advocacy writing. 3 hrs lect./disc.