Štefan Lux

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Štefan Lux (1936)

Stefan Lux (born November 4, 1887 in Vienna ; † July 3, 1936 in Geneva ) was a Czechoslovak artist of the Jewish faith and a journalist . As a writer, he published in German under the pseudonym Peter Sturmbusch . Lux committed during a general assembly of the League of Nations before the assembled plenum suicide to the persecution of Jews in the German Reich to draw attention.

Life

Stefan Lux was born as Stefan Mathias Lux in Vienna I., Kurrentgasse 10 as the son of the royal Hungarian notary Dr. Albert Lux and Malvine Landesberger were born. He attended a school in Bratislava . He studied in Budapest Law and turned to the examination various fine arts to. As an actor, he received various theater roles on stages in Berlin and Vienna . Under the pseudonym Peter Sturmbusch he published poems and lyrics that were set to music by Otto Siegl and Erwin Bodky , among others . In 1920 he directed the feature film Gerechtigkeit , which was one of the first screen productions to address the spread of anti-Semitism . In addition to Ernst Deutsch and Fritz Kortner , the leading role is played by the well-known Austrian-Jewish actor Rudolph Schildkraut , who emigrated to the USA that same year.

Lux himself moved to Prague and founded a theater there. In the early thirties, Lux became increasingly politically active and as a journalist published vehement calls for resistance against National Socialism in various publications and newspapers .

death

In 1936, Lux decided to protest against the persecution of the Jews in the German Reich . Lux gained access to a general assembly of the League of Nations in Geneva with a press accreditation . After a speech by the Spanish Foreign Minister Augusto Barcia Trelles , Lux entered the plenary chamber on the morning of July 3, 1936, addressed a few not exactly traditional words to the assembled diplomats and the Belgian session president Paul van Zeeland , then drew a revolver and shot himself in the chest. He was then admitted to a hospital in Geneva and died there that evening from his serious injury. He was buried in the Geneva Jewish cemetery.

Reactions and appreciation

Numerous international celebrities and politicians were present at his funeral. The British Guardian wrote: “Stefan Lux, what can we say about what you did? It was unnecessary, maybe, but heroic. Before your coffin, we swear that we will never give up the human solidarity for which you sacrificed your life and that we will not be silent in the face of the crimes. "

Nahum Goldmann wrote in 1937: "The day will come when a monument will be built to Stefan Lux in Germany."

With the German-French film adaptation of the documentary play The Deputy of Costa-Gavras , written by Rolf Hochhuth , a “cinematic monument” should be set for Štefan Lux. The film begins with a portrayal of his suicide.

Works

Publications under the name Peter Sturmbusch:

literature

  • Michael Biggs: The Transnational Diffusion of Protest by Self-Immolation , presented on various occasions, a. a. at the Crossing Borders Conference, Berlin Science Center for Social Research, October 2006
  • Arnold Hahn: Before the eyes of the world! Why did Stefan Lux die? His life, his deeds, his letters , Czechoslovak League against Anti-Semitism, Prague 1936.
  • Moshe Levani, in: The Jewish Digest 12/2 (1966), pp. 16-20
  • Betty Sargent: The Desperate Mission of Stefan Lux , in: The Georgia Review 43 (Winter 1989), pp. 693-707
  • Rüdiger Strempel: Lux. Against National Socialism and the lethargy of the world. Osburg Verlag, Hamburg 2020, ISBN 978-3-95510-216-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Birth book of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wien, number of rows 1781/1887
  2. ^ Stefan Lux, protomartyr à Genève de l'antisémitisme nazi , notrehistoire.ch
personal data
SURNAME Lux, Štefan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lux, Stefan; Sturmbusch, Peter (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czechoslovak Jewish artist and journalist
DATE OF BIRTH November 4, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH July 3, 1936
Place of death Geneva