Hugo Sunshine

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Anton Josef Trčka : Hugo Sunshine (1914)
Hugo Sonnenschein (by Egon Schiele , 1917)

Hugo Sonnenschein , also Hugo Sonka , (born May 25, 1889 in Gaya , Austria-Hungary ; died July 20, 1953 in Mírov , Czechoslovakia ) was a German-speaking Moravian writer .

Life

Hugo Sonnenschein was of Jewish descent. From 1911 to 1914 he traveled through Europe as a vagabond. He was a radical socialist utopian and advocated Trotsky's theory of permanent revolution . Sonnenschein created expressive poems with folk song-like features. In his poems he stylizes himself as "Brother Sonka".

After the First World War he was involved in the formation of the Red Guard in Vienna and a member of the Czech and Austrian Communist parties , from which he resigned in 1927 because of his sympathy for Leon Trotsky . In 1933 he was a member of the Association of Socialist Writers . In 1934 he was expelled from Austria. In 1940 he was arrested by the Nazis and deported to Auschwitz in 1943, but liberated in 1945.

After the Second World War, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Czechoslovakia in 1947 on the pretext of collaboration . He died in Mírov prison in 1953 under circumstances that had never been fully clarified , possibly of tuberculosis.

In an anecdote by Friedrich Torberg , Sonnenschein is portrayed as an overestimating, intrusive poet who was then criticized accordingly by the literary agent Ernst Polak :

"[...] It was even worse for the poet Hugo Sonnenschein, who wrote many poems under the pseudonym Sonka and only published a few. He tried to compensate for this by not only constantly talking about his work, but also saying something rhyming at every opportunity that presented itself or was forced by him [...] when the publisher Zsolnay, perhaps to finally have some peace, gave him the publication of a volume of poetry promised [...] Sonka said nothing more, but suggested a title, a different one every day, and demanded an assessment of the most recent suggestion from every available mansion table. [...] 'I think I've found the best title now,' he announced one day. 'Sonka - a poet, a fool, a nobody. What do you think of that, Polak? '
Ernst Polak carefully rocked his head:
'Hm', he said. 'It's not a title. But maybe a business card? '"

- Friedrich Torberg, Aunt Jolesch's heirs

Works (selection)

Single issues

  • Brother Sonka and the general cause or the word against order . Zsolnay, Vienna 1930.
  • Earth on earth . Kraus Reprint, Nendeln 1973 (reprint of the Vienna edition 1920).
  • The legend of the world-depraved Sonka. Poems . Verlag Tal, Leipzig 1920.
  • Steps of death. Dream poems from Auschwitz . Verlag Monte Verita, Vienna 1993, ISBN 3-900434-45-X .
  • Terrhan or The Dream of My Earth. Novel . Zsolnay, Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-552-04012-9 (Books of the Bohemian Villages).

collection

literature

Web links

Commons : Hugo Sonnenschein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Anarchist and utopian: the poet Hugo Sonnenschein, called Sonka on Radio Prague on August 15, 2010, accessed on August 16, 2010.
  2. ^ Friedrich Torberg: The heirs of Aunt Jolesch dtv 1981, p. 63
personal data
SURNAME Sunshine, Hugo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sonka, Hugo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian writer
DATE OF BIRTH May 25, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Gaya
DATE OF DEATH July 20, 1953
Place of death Mírov