Who was the celebrated German author who began his life as a nationalist and later joined the democratic opposition in exile against the Third Reich? What was his connection to Israel and to the National Library? And why do visitors place stones on his grave? On the 70th anniversary of the death of Thomas Mann, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, we trace the man who gave us “The Magic Mountain” and who became one of the clearest and most steadfast voices against what was happening in his homeland.
Maya the Bee in the Service of Germany’s Soldiers
The beloved children’s book about the brave little bee who saves her beehive became one of the most popular books among German soldiers during the First World War. What led them to carry this book about the adventures of a small bee with them onto the battlefield? Does it contain hints of the devious ideology that would cause global devastation only a few decades later?
“Vienna of the Sewers”: A School for Dictators
In 1907 a young man from a small provincial town in Austria arrived in Vienna, the European art capitol of the era, with hopes of enrolling in the art academy. His rejection led him to roam the streets of “the other Vienna,” which many historians viewed to be a “school for the future dictator.”
Antisemitic Nationalists Killed Germany’s Jewish FM. His Mom Forgave Them
Walther Rathenau, one of Germany’s wealthiest and most powerful men, was gunned down by radicals in 1922 and mourned by millions. A moving and timeless letter from his mother was read at the murderer’s trial.
Heinrich Himmler’s Books at the National Library of Israel
Even a mass murderer can have a personal library. Some of the books from Heinrich Himmler’s private collection, containing his signature, can be found today at the National Library of Israel. How did they get here?
A Chronicle of Humanity: From Creation to the Year 1492
Among the National Library of Israel’s treasures is a book that changed the face of the nascent printing industry, by incorporating spectacular woodcuts alongside the text. Written by Hartmann Schedel, the book systematically describes the history of the world and of the human race, while also documenting antisemitism over the centuries
This Jewish War Hero Protested the Nazis… Then Helped Defeat Them
A decorated German soldier in World War I, Richard Stern opposed Nazism from within. After fleeing, he joined the US Army at age 43, and soon became a hero there, as well…
The Last Bar Mitzvah Before Kristallnacht
At Berlin’s Rykestrasse Synagogue, Fredi chanted Moses’ song of darkness and redemption
The Kaiser’s Favorite “Carmen”? A Jewish Star from Budapest
After years in the Berlin Royal Opera, an aging Teréz Rothauser was sent to Theresienstadt
A Belated Kaddish for the Unnamed Victims of the Annaberg Transport
They were murdered days after Yom Kippur, yet my father survived
