Becher, Ulrich
Biographical details: 2 October 1910 in Berlin – 15 April 1990 in Basel, Switzerland
Occupation: Writer
Exile: 1933 Austria and Switzerland, 1938 Switzerland, 1941 Brazil, 1944 USA
Remigration: 1948 Austria, later Switzerland
After the burning of the Reichstag, Ulrich Becher fled Austria and lived thereafter repeatedly for longer periods in Switzerland. His attempt to reside permanently in Switzerland after the annexation of Austria in 1938 failed. Although Becher's mother was Swiss, the authorities did not issue him a residence permit. In 1941 he emigrated again to Brazil, and then in 1944 to the USA.
Bermann, Richard A. (pen-name Arnold Höllriegel)
Biographical details: 27 April 1885 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary – 5 September 1939 in Saratoga Springs, USA
Occupation: Journalist, writer
Exile: 1933 Austria, 1938 United Kingdom, 1938 USA
The Viennese journalist lived and worked in Berlin before 1933. He was dismissed from the "Berliner Tageblatt" in 1933 for being a Jew and returned to Vienna where he developed the idea for the German Academy in Exile together with Prince Hubertus zu Löwenstein and worked as a journalist. Only after two failed attempts did he manage to escape from Austria in May 1938.
Bern, Clementine (née Bloch, 2. marriage: Zernik)
Biographical details: 28 September 1905 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary – 31 December 1996 in New York, USA
Occupation: Lawyer, librarian
Exile: 1938 USA
In the USA Clementine Zernik could not continue to practise as a lawyer. She first earned a living by doing occasional work. She also campaigned for the interests of Austrian emigrants in the USA. From 1942 she offered her language skills and political commitment to the British Information Service in the USA and later the American Broadcasting Station in Europe (ABSIE) in London.
Blass, Rico
Biographical details: 18 May 1908 in Breslau (now: Wrocław, Poland) – 31 May 2003 in Frankfurt am Main
Occupation: Painter, graphic artist, illustrator
Exile: 1931 Switzerland, 1934 Palestine
Remigration: 1957, Germany/FRG, interrupted by periods in France
From Switzerland, where he had worked since 1931, Rico Blass emigrated to Palestine. There he earned his living as a commercial artist, but also by illustrating books, such as an album about the Orient for which he produced small drawings. Blass devoted himself intensively to painting; the Palestinian landscape and the special lighting were sources of inspiration for him.
Bloch, Clementine (divorced Bern, 2. marriage: Zernik)
Biographical details: 28 September 1905 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary – 31 December 1996 in New York, USA
Occupation: Lawyer, librarian
Exile: 1938 USA
In the USA Clementine Zernik could not continue to practise as a lawyer. She first earned a living by doing occasional work. She also campaigned for the interests of Austrian emigrants in the USA. From 1942 she offered her language skills and political commitment to the British Information Service in the USA and later the American Broadcasting Station in Europe (ABSIE) in London.
Borchardt, Hermann (born Hermann Joelsohn)
Biographical details: 14 June 1888 in Berlin – 23 January 1951 in New York, USA
Occupation: Writer, German philologist, teacher
Exile: 1933 France, 1934 Soviet Union (1936 expelled, return to Germany), 1938 USA
Disillusioned with the Soviet Union, Hermann Borchardt refused to accept Soviet citizenship. In January 1936, he was expelled and returned to Berlin. He was imprisoned in a succession of concentration camps and was severely maltreated. In 1937 he managed to flee to the USA. He worked on several literary projects, although a novel he published failed to sell.
Brandt, Willy (born Herbert Frahm)
Biographical details: 18 December 1913 in Lübeck – 8 October 1992 in Unkel
Occupation: Politician
Exile: 1933 Norway, 1940 Sweden
Remigration: 1947 Germany/Western occupation zones
From 1933, Herbert Frahm called himself Willy Brandt in order to avoid persecution. He fled to Norway. There, and later in Sweden, he was active in the political resistance to the Nazi regime. He travelled to Germany in 1945 for the first time since the war, this time as a correspondent at the Nuremberg trials. When he became the SPD candidate for Chancellor in the 1960s, he was vilified because of his exile.
Buber-Neumann, Margarete
Biographical details: 21 October 1901 in Potsdam – 6 November 1989 in Frankfurt am Main
Occupation: Publicist, writer
Exile: 1935 Soviet Union, 1940 extradition to the German Reich
Margarete Buber-Neumann was persecuted in her country of exile under the terror of the Stalinist system. Her husband Heinz Neumann was executed in the Soviet Union in 1937. After being extradited to the German Reich, Buber-Neumann was imprisoned in the Ravensbrück women's concentration camp until April 1945. After 1945, she committed herself to combatting all forms of totalitarianism as a political journalist and contemporary witness.
