August Hermann Zeiz

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August Hermann Zeiz ( pseudonyms : Jean Barlatier , Georg Fraser , born September 23, 1893 in Cologne , † August 30, 1964 in Berlin ) was a German writer .

Life

August Hermann Zeiz was the son of a Prussian government official. He grew up in Cologne and Danzig . As a list of candidates for the 1911/12 school year shows, Zeiz graduated from secondary school in Danzig-Langfuhr. He intended to attend secondary school , but decided to do a publishing apprenticeship in Munich . In 1915 he married the daughter of a Jewish businessman. Zeiz took part in the First World War as a soldier on the fronts in Russia , Italy , Serbia and France . In 1917 he was seriously wounded off Verdun .

In the 1920s , August Hermann Zeiz worked as a journalist ; he wrote for newspapers of the Ullstein publishing house and the Berliner Tageblatt . Since the early 1930s , Zeiz, who had published poems and novels since 1911 , was a successful writer of entertainment and comedies under the pseudonym "Georg Fraser" . In spite of his “ Jewish misgivings ” and membership of the SPD , he was able to continue his literary work even after the National Socialists came to power ; Presumably this was made possible by the protection of the Nazi cultural functionary Hans Hinkel , who provided Zeiz with the necessary special permits until 1943.

In the fall of 1935 Zeiz emigrated with his family to Austria , where he continued his career as a playwright and was chief dramaturge at the Scala Theater in Vienna until 1938 . In addition, he ran the business of the Georg-Marton-Verlag , in which his pieces appeared. After the connection of Austria to the German Reich reached Zeiz by returning the publishing license that performed by him publishing the " Aryanization " escaped. The National Socialist rulers reacted by arresting Zeiz; he spent the period from December 1938 to March 1939 in police custody . After his release he led a double existence as a successful playwright and secret escape helper for threatened Jews. He used the premises of the discontinued Marton publishing house as a kind of news center through which he maintained contact with other countries, especially with the help of his son Thomas Sessler, who had emigrated to Switzerland .

It was not until the beginning of 1943 that Zeiz's escape aid activities were exposed. From February to July 1943 he was again in police custody; then he was an inmate of the Dachau concentration camp until January 1944 . His wife was also arrested; she died in the Auschwitz concentration camp in the course of 1943 .

After his release from the concentration camp , Zeiz joined the Austrian resistance group " O5 "; From December 1944 he was a member of the Committee of Seven, the command staff of the O5, which, through his contacts with the advancing Red Army , contributed to largely preventing the destruction of Vienna.

After the end of the Second World War , Zeiz rebuilt the Marton publishing house . However, he was denied major literary successes, and his resistance activities during the Third Reich were hardly recognized in Austria. Zeiz spent the last years of his life in Berlin .

Works

  • In the mirror. Poems. Danzig / Langfuhr 1911
  • Dance for death. Novella. Berlin 1918; New print, edited by Silke Engel. Regenbrecht Verlag, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-943889-49-9 .
  • The red days. Berlin 1920.
  • Disappointment. Novella. In: Zeitbilder. Supplement to the Vossische Zeitung. No. 39, 1924.
  • The application. Novella. In: Zeitbilder. Supplement to the Vossische Zeitung. No. 48, 1924.
  • One day in Madrid. In: Faust. Monthly. No. 11/12, 1924/1925.
  • The boss. Vienna 1930 (under the name Georg Fraser).
  • A woman makes politics. Berlin 1930.
  • Poldi and Paulette. Vienna 1930 (under the name Georg Fraser).
  • Sports. Berlin 1932.
  • The eleven devils. Vienna [u. a.] 1934 (under the name Georg Fraser).
  • The last signal. Vienna [u. a.] 1935 (under the name Georg Fraser)
  • Nine officers. Berlin 1936 (under the name Georg Fraser)
  • Rainbow. Berlin 1936 (under the name Georg Fraser)
  • Silver birds. Berlin 1937 (under the name Georg Fraser)
  • Talk of the town. Vienna 1937 (under the name Georg Fraser)
  • Headline. Berlin 1938 (under the name Georg Fraser, together with Erich Ebermayer)
  • Marietta's honeymoons. Berlin 1939 (under the name Georg Fraser)
  • The anuschka. Berlin 1940 (under the name Georg Fraser)
  • Fathers. Zurich 1941 (under the name Jean Barlatier)
  • Dancing lesson. Vienna 1945 (under the name Jean Barlatier)
  • Südbahnhotel. Vienna 1946 (under the name Georg Fraser)
  • Half a gram. Vienna [u. a.] 1947 (under the name Georg Fraser)
  • A decent person. Vienna 1951 (under the name Georg Fraser)
  • Dish in Mantua. Munich 1965 (under the name Georg Fraser)

Translations

  • László Bús-Fekete : The whole city is talking about it . Hamburg 1955 (translated under the name Georg Fraser)
  • John B. Priestley : The Conways and Their Time . Hamburg 1950 (translated under the name Georg Fraser)
  • John B. Priestley : Since Adam and Eve . Hamburg 1964 (translated under the name Georg Fraser, together with Jan Franco)
  • Johann Vaszary : The apartment next door ... Vienna [u. a.] 1950 (translated under the name Georg Fraser)

literature

  • Silke Engel: August Hermann Zeiz (1893–1964). Poet, court reporter, playwright, literary agent: aesthetic changes and political resistance in the modern literary scene. Ergon Verlag, Würzburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-9565025-0-7 .
  • Karin Gradwohl-Schlacher: "Yesterday peace was made". August Hermann Zeiz alias Georg Fraser in the Third Reich. In: Yearbook for Research on Antisemitism. 10, 2001, pp. 223-238 ( PDF ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see also: Silke Engel : August Hermann Zeiz (1893–1964): poet, court reporter, playwright, literary agent: aesthetic changes and political resistance in the literature of the modern age. Ergon Verlag, 2017, p. 27
  2. ↑ see also: Sessler, Thomas , in: Werner Röder, Herbert A. Strauss (Hrsg.): Biographisches Handbuch der Deutschensprachigen Emigration nach 1933. Volume 1: Politics, Economy, Public Life . Munich: Saur, 1980, p. 690
personal data
SURNAME Zeiz, August Hermann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Barlatier, Jean (pseudonym); Fraser, Georg (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH September 23, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH August 30, 1964
Place of death Berlin