Jan Petersen (writer)

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Jan Petersen (2nd from left) in conversation with Wieland Herzfelde (middle, seated), Willi Bredel (next to it right) and Fritz Schälike (1st from right)

Jan Petersen (born July 2, 1906 in Berlin ; † November 11, 1969 there ) was a German writer . His real name is Hans Schwalm.

Life

The son of a bricklayer learned the trade and later worked as a lathe operator. Petersen was a member of the KPD and from 1931 organizational head of the Association of Proletarian Revolutionary Writers in Germany . Even after the National Socialists came to power , he - now as chairman - continued to illegally lead the federal government and represented left-wing and anti-fascist authors. At the First International Writers' Congress in Paris in June 1935, Petersen appeared anonymously as the main speaker alongside Henri Barbusse and provided information on the situation in National Socialist Germany. Also anonymously he published the Prague magazine Neue Deutsche Blätter together with Anna Seghers , Oskar Maria Graf and Wieland Herzfelde .

Petersen went into exile in 1935 . In 1938 his German citizenship was revoked . He was a member of the PEN center for German-speaking authors abroad . From 1938 to 1946 he was chairman of the Free German Cultural Association in exile in London. 1940–1942 he was interned in Canada as an " enemy alien ".

In 1946 Petersen returned to Germany and settled in what was then East Berlin , where he was awarded the Goethe Prize of the City of Berlin in 1950 . Until 1955 he was the first chairman of the German Writers' Association .

In 1958 he received the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver and in 1959 the National Prize, Second Class . In Berlin-Marzahn a street (Jan-Petersen-Straße) was named after him.

Works (selection)

  • Our street . Pre-printed in the Berner Tagwacht , Bern 1936, then as a book edition in Moscow and London.
    • German first edition under the title Our Street. A chronicle. Written in the heart of fascist Germany in 1933/34 by Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1947.
  • Gestapo Trial . Gollancz , London 1939, Stockholm 1943.
    • German first edition under the title Baumann et al. Published by Dietz Verlag Berlin 1948.
  • Germany beneath the surface . London 1940.
    • German first edition under the title And all around silence by Dietz Verlag Berlin 1949.
  • The case of Dr. Wagner. A film novella . Henschelverlag Art and Society, Berlin 1954.
  • Drive to Paris. Yvonne . Publishing house of the Ministry for National Defense, Berlin 1957.
  • The probation. A chronicle . Construction, Berlin 1970.

Filmography

literature

Web links

Commons : Jan Petersen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Petersen, Jan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH July 2, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1969
Place of death Berlin