Cyankali (wolf)
Cyankali is a play on the subject of abortion by Friedrich Wolf , which appeared in 1929 , caused a sensation across all sections of the population and was also internationally successful.
content
Twenty-year-old Hete Fent is expecting a child from her boyfriend Paul. Although the two are not married and Hete still lives with her mother (mother Fent), they both want the child. The prerequisites seem favorable as the young parents have a secure income. Hete is a cleaner in the offices of the factory management, Paul is a trained stoker who works as a specialist on the blast furnaces. Since Paul is valued and popular at the plant, he is also elected as a shop steward to the plant's canteen commission.
However, due to collective bargaining disputes, workers are unexpectedly locked out. Since the blast furnaces and the offices are also shut down, Paul and Hete are suddenly left with no income. Hardly anyone in the working-class district can now afford groceries. A neighbor friend and mother of several times throws herself out of the window to her death in desperation over her new pregnancy. Hete realizes that she and Paul will not be able to feed the newborn without an income. Although she would like to have the child, she now sees no other way out than an abortion. In the hope of help, Hete turns to the property manager Prosnik, who has an old abortion instrument. He also agrees to leave it to her, but tries to blackmail her by demanding sexual intercourse in return. In this situation, Paul comes in. He steals the instrument from Prosnik and takes it.
Some time later, Hete, mother Fent and some other residents of the house are sitting at the kitchen table with the Fent family and are starving because of the long lockout. Surprisingly, Paul and his friend Max arrive, who broke into the canteen and stole food. They distribute these among the hungry residents. After a brief moment of joy, however, it turns out that Paul and Max are already being followed by the police because of the break-in. You have to flee and go into hiding. Hete is now completely on her own. She goes to the doctor Dr. Möller. This turns out to be corruptible. He gives a healthy, rich woman an abortion certificate for a medical indication. Since Hete has no money to bribe the doctor, he not only refuses her any help, but also makes serious accusations for her suggestion and literally holds her against the threat of punishment under the penal code.
Paul and Max have now found accommodation in the kiosk of their friend, the newsagents Kuckuck. There, at Hete's request, Paul is supposed to abort the child with the stolen instrument from the caretaker Prosnik. But since he cannot bring himself to this at the decisive moment, Hete tries to have the abortion himself. She injures herself and subsequently falls ill with childbed fever. However, she cannot see a doctor because he could report her to the police about the attempted illegal abortion. Hete's despair grows. In her distress, she seeks a labor abortionist and begs her to do the toilet. However, when the abortionist realizes that Hete's poor health is due to a previous attempted abortion, she becomes afraid of being involved and throws the girl out of the door. In a moment of compassion she advises Hete even for self-abortion with few drops of cyanide from a vial, which she mitgibt of pregnant women. Hete is now fleeing back to her mother. Out of motherly love, she agrees to help her with the abortion. Since both women misjudged the dosage, Hete overdoses. The abortion succeeds, but the deadly poisoned hete can be called by Dr. Möller no longer help. Rather, the doctor reports her and her mother to the police for the abortion. In the meantime Paul has also been arrested. At the end of the play Paul and mother Fent are led away after a ruthless interrogation by the investigating superintendent, while the dying girl has to stay behind in her room alone.
background
The 45th German Medical Congress in Eisenach determined in 1926 that "the number of annual abortions in Germany is estimated at 500,000 to 800,000, including around 10,000 deaths." These cases were illegal due to Section 218 of the Reich Criminal Code.
reception
Cyankali was premiered on September 6, 1929 at the Lessing Theater in Berlin, directed by Hans Hinrichs , and initiated an extensive discussion of the § 218 abortion paragraph. "The critics praised the realistic description of the milieu and the author's ability to arouse sympathy for his characters in the audience not only in their suffering but also in their rebellion." Cyankali was the most successful German-language play of the 1929/30 season shown on tour in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Soviet Union. The drama was also played in cities such as New York, Tokyo, Moscow, and Paris.
The Austrian film director Hans Tintner filmed the play in 1930 with Grete Mosheim for Atlantis-Film, but the film was only released for cinemas after numerous editing specifications had been implemented. In January 1932 the author of the play was briefly taken into “ protective custody ” and accused of commercial abortion, but was released after mass protests.
A second film adaptation of Cyankali , directed by Jurij Kramers , was made in 1977 in the GDR .
literature
- Helmuth Kiesel: History of German-language literature 1918 to 1933. (= History of German literature from the beginnings to the present. Volume X). CH Beck Verlag, Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-406-70799-5 , pp. 1127-1130.
- Daniel Halft: The scene becomes a tribunal! A study on the relationship between law and literature using the example of the play 'Cyankali' by Friedrich Wolf. Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-8305-1420-6 .
- Emmi Wolf, Klaus Hammer (ed.): Cyankali. A documentation . Structure, Berlin 1978, DNB 790220512 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Brigitte Beyer: Friedrich Wolf. In: Harenberg Acting Guide. The whole world of theater: 265 authors with more than 750 works. Harenberg, Dortmund 1997, pp. 1188f.
- ^ Brigitte Beyer: Friedrich Wolf. In: Harenberg Acting Guide. Harenberg, Dortmund 1997, p. 1188f., Here p. 1189.
- ↑ In 1929 the agitation piece Cyankali was premiered by Friedrich Wolf . Museum of Contraception & Abortion. On muvs.org.