Book Presentation: New Edition of Thomas Mann's 'Deutsche Hörer! Radiosendungen nach Deutschland'

Mely Kiyak in Conversation with Denis Scheck

Thomas Mann was already over sixty years old when he fled from the Nazis to America, from where he addressed German listeners in monthly radio broadcasts. Desperate, admonishing, pleading, sometimes even speaking in a rage, he tried to convey one message to the Germans throughout the war: "Do not go along with it!" What was remarkable about his speeches was not so much his commitment—he actually detested political interventions—but rather how profoundly the circumstances changed his language and writing. The Thomas Mann of the radio addresses is direct, polemical, and highly offensive toward Hitler and the entire Nazi leadership—legally, one might call it verbal abuse. A stark contrast to the refined, ironic prose of the novelist. War, exile, and displacement deeply affect every artist’s work, confronting them with the question: To intervene or not? For Thomas Mann, the answer was clear—he had no choice but to resist.

Mely Kiyak has written an extensive foreword and afterword for the new edition of Deutsche Hörer! and was astonished by how radically democratic Mann’s statements were, as "he hated the Nazis from the depths of his poetic and political heart." At the book premiere, Mely Kiyak will discuss political and poetic concerns in the works of Thomas Mann—and of all those who fled and continue to flee—with literary critic Denis Scheck.

Tuesday, March 4
Kuppelhalle
Doors: 6 pm / Start: 7 pm
Tickets