Claire Felsenburg
Claire Felsenburg ( 1911 in Lemberg - July 2, 2002 in Denver , Colorado ) was an Austrian emigrant on the run from National Socialism and a book author.
Life
Claire's parents, actually Clara, were Jetty and Mauricy Sontag. She had four siblings. Little Claire fled with her parents in 1914 after the outbreak of World War I and the approach of the Russian army via Budapest to Vienna, in a stinking cattle wagon. There the family lived in slums on the so-called Mazzesinsel , often unheated. Claire attended the elementary and community school in Karajangasse in Brigittenau and then completed a crash course in shorthand and typing. Her mother was very socially minded and opened a meal for the poor. Later, after the divorce from the irascible husband, the mother brought her family through life with tailoring. Often there was not enough money for electricity, and sometimes not even for rent. From 1927 Claire worked in the law firm Dr. Fuerth. In 1936 she married the journalist Walter Felsenburg (1904-2004), a significantly older cousin of Elfriede Jelinek , who later won the Nobel Prize for literature and who had been a courtroom reporter since 1923. He brokered jobs for her from daily newspapers. Daily newspapers. Most recently the couple lived together with Claire's mother-in-law, Flora Felsenburg, at Liechtensteinstrasse 56 in Alsergrund .
In July 1938 Walter and Claire fled the National Socialists to Zurich and in 1939 to Cambridge in England. The mother-in-law did not want to leave Vienna. Claire Felsenburg first worked as a housemaid in exile, then worked as an unskilled worker in agriculture and from 1943 ran a bed and breakfast, but also attended an art school at the same time. In 1944 daughter Dorothy was born. Eventually she got the news that her mother had been murdered in Auschwitz. One of her sisters, Lotte , later the wife of Hugo Brainin , survived Auschwitz, the other siblings were all able to escape into emigration, sometimes under dramatic circumstances. The couple decided to leave Europe and emigrated to the USA in January 1949. Claire Felsenburg first tried her hand as a fashion draftsman and designer in Los Angeles. The couple eventually settled in Denver. From 1952 until her retirement, she worked as a secretary. She lived in Denver with her husband until her death.
She wrote a book in memory of her mother. Claire Felsenburg's narrative style is described as “reserved, almost elegant”. Cornelia Niedermeier summed up in the Standard , "in the straightforward simplicity of her polished language, in the effort to be correct, in the unliterary authenticity, the memories of Claire Felsenburg, who died in July of this year, are one of the most impressive books of this winter".
Quote
“It was midnight and a sea of lights and small boats seemed to welcome the arrival of the Danish ship Batory. They were surprised and astonished to see the Statue of Liberty with a high, brightly lit torch in front of them. The eternal hikers should finally come to rest. "
Book publication
- Refugee children. Memories , Theodor Kramer Society , Vienna 2002, ISBN 978-3-901602-17-7 , ed. by Konstantin Kaiser and Robert Sommer , with a foreword by Elfriede Jelinek .
Web links
- Texts by Claire Felsenburg on Elfriede Jelinek's website
Individual evidence
- ^ Perlentaucher : Claire Felsenburg , accessed on March 17, 2018
- ^ Theodor Kramer Society : CLAIRE FELSENBURG , accessed on March 20, 2018
- ↑ Hans-Christian Heintschel: Unagitated style about exciting times , City Hall correspondence of the City of Vienna, November 28, 2002, accessed on March 20, 2018
- ↑ Cornelia Niedermeier: Refugee Children's Days , Der Standard (Vienna), December 4, 2002, accessed on March 20, 2018
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Castle Rock, Claire |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian emigrant and author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1911 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lviv |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 2, 2002 |
| Place of death | Denver |