Walter Nowojski

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Walter Nowojski (born November 12, 1931 in Annahütte (Niederlausitz); † November 8, 2012 in Eichwalde ) was a German specialist in German. From 1959 he worked as a literary editor at the radio of the GDR , later he became head of the radio play division. In 1969 he switched to German television and became head of the Dramatic Art division. He was released in 1974 because of political differences. From 1975 to 1990 he was editor-in-chief of the magazine Neue Deutsche Literatur . He was best known as the editor of Victor Klemperer's diaries , whose estate he had been working on since 1978.

Life

Walter Nowojski grew up as the son of a miner as the second of three children (an older brother, a younger sister) in Annahütte / Niederlausitz. After primary school and training as an administrative clerk while attending business school, Novojski's first job was in the culture department in the Senftenberg district council . From 1949 to 1952 he graduated from the Workers and Farmers Faculty in Potsdam and studied German at the Humboldt University in Berlin from 1952 to 1956 , where he heard, among others, Victor Klemperer, who gave a series of guest lectures at the Berlin Humboldt University from 1954 to 1956, among other things about the influence of French on German literature. Klemperer's book LTI (Lingua Tertii Imperii) had already sensitized Novojski to the ambiguity of language early on. He married in 1955 and a daughter was born soon after.

After completing his studies, Nowojski worked from 1956 as an editor at the Neues Leben publishing house , from 1959 at Radio DDR, where he worked as a journalist and later as the head of the literary and cultural policy editorial office. Many of his contributions to the series Encounters with Books and Poets fall during this time . In 1966 he became chief dramaturge of the State Committee for Broadcasting and was thus responsible for the radio play production of all GDR radio stations for several years. Here he made contact with well-known authors as well as with writers who were still young at the time. He had a special friendship with Erwin Strittmatter . He also maintained contacts beyond the borders of the GDR and conducted interviews with numerous West German writers as well as with Soviet authors. In 1969 Nowojski became deputy director, later head of the dramatic arts division of television in the GDR. In 1974 he was released after political differences and was banned from the house. From 1975 to 1990 Nowojski was editor-in-chief of the magazine Neue Deutsche Literatur and a member of the presidium of the GDR Writers' Association .

When Nowojski heard about Klemperer's extensive estate in the Saxon State Library in Dresden in 1978 , he familiarized himself with the manuscripts and diaries and, with the support of Hadwig Klemperer, won the Aufbau-Verlag for the planned publication of Klemperer's autobiography Curriculum vitae and his diaries.

Walter Nowojski affirmed the democratic revolution. His replacement as editor-in-chief of the NDL by the newly elected board of directors of the Writers' Association in March 1990 was expressly not viewed as a criticism of his achievements in the past 15 years, but it was believed that the election of a new editor-in-chief was a sign of renewal. At the end of 1990, Novojski took early retirement. The turning point offered Nowojski the opportunity to publish Victor Klemperer's diaries without distorting omissions. In the autumn of 1995, the Aufbau-Verlag published the two volumes of Victor Klemperer's diaries 1933–1945 I want to bear witness to the last . In November 1995, Nowojski and Hadwig Klemperer accepted the posthumously Victor Klemperer Geschwister Scholl Prize. Martin Walser gave the laudatory speech . In addition to an intensive lecture activity, Novojski worked in the following years on the publication of the diaries for the years 1918–1932 and 1945–1959. In 2005 Nowojski tackled his most extensive project: the digital annotated complete edition of the unabridged diaries 1918–1959, which he was unable to complete.

Publications

  • In the dark. Artists' fates between 1933 and 1945 , Berlin 1963 (Ed.)
  • Apprenticeship. Stories and Memories , Berlin 1979 (prose anthology; ed.)
  • My father - my mother , Berlin 1986 (prose anthology; ed.)
  • Berlin - a place for peace , Berlin 1987 (ed.)
  • My Location. Memories, discoveries, longings , Berlin 1989 (prose anthology; ed.)
  • Victor Klemperer, "Curriculum vitae. Memories of a Philologist" , 2 volumes, Berlin 1989 (Ed.);
  • Der Kinnhaken , Berlin 1993 (prose anthology; ed.)
  • Victor Klemperer, "I want to give testimony up to the last. Diaries 1933-1945" , 2 volumes, Berlin 1995 (Ed., With the collaboration of Hadwig Klemperer; also as a paperback edition in 8 volumes, Berlin 1999)
  • Victor Klemperer, "Collecting life, not asking for what and why. Diaries 1918-1932" , 2 volumes, Berlin 1996 (Ed., With the collaboration of Christian Löser; also as a paperback edition in 6 volumes, Berlin 2000)
  • Victor Klemperer, "That's how I sit between all chairs. Diaries 1945-1959" , 2 vols., Berlin 1999 (Ed., With the assistance of Christian Löser)
  • Victor Klemperer. A life in pictures , pictorial biography, Berlin 1999 (together with Christian Borchert and Almut Giesecke)
  • Rudolf Hirsch, "From a Lost World. Memories" , Berlin 2002 (Ed.)
  • Victor Klemperer (1881 - 1960): Romanist - chronicler of limbo , Berlin 2004 (Volume 9 of the series "Jewish Miniatures")
  • When the fire came back . In: "Die Zeit", No. 7, February 10, 2005
  • Victor Klemperer, "Die Tagebücher (1933-1945). Annotated Complete Edition" , Berlin 2007 (CD-ROM, Vol. 150 of the "Digital Library"; Ed .; Collaboration: Christian Löser)

Broadcast contributions

Contributions for Radio DDR

  • Report on an encounter with the writer Heinrich Böll and a reading from his new novel "Billard um Halbzehn". Encounters with books and poets. EA: Radio DDR I, June 4, 1961.
  • Introduction of the writer Leonhard Frank and reading from "Links, where the heart is". Encounters with books and poets. EA: Radio DDR I, July 2, 1961.
  • Herbert neighbor "Einhild Handmann". Encounters with books and poets. EA: Radio DDR I, March 11, 1962.
  • For the 60th birthday of Mikhail Scholokhov. Encounters with books and poets. EA: Radio DDR I, May 23, 1965.
  • Conversation with Magda Szabó and reading the novel "Muttchen" by the author. Encounters with books and poets. EA: Radio DDR II, June 7, 1965.
  • Jorge Semprun "The Great Journey". Encounters with books and poets. EA: Radio DDR I, July 4th 1065.
  • Franz Fühmann reads from his story "The Creation". Encounters with books and poets. EA: Radio DDR I, August 28, 1966.
  • Simone de Beauvoir "Memoirs of a Daughter from a Good Family". Encounters with books and poets (72). EA: Radio DDR II, September 24, 1967.
  • Jannis Ritsos - a singer from Greece. Encounter with books and poets. EA: Radio DDR II, December 17, 1967.
  • Famous poets about their first reading experience. Hour of world literature. Encounters with books and poets (75). EA: Radio DDR II, January 21, 1968.
  • Thyde Monnier "Love - Bread of the Poor". Encounters with books and poets. EA: Radio DDR I, June 16, 1968.
  • Romain Rolland "The Enchanted Soul". Encounters with books and poets. EA: Radio DDR II, July 14, 1968.
  • Georgian poetry. Series: Hour of World Literature. Encounters with books and poets. EA: Radio DDR II, October 19, 1969.
  • Reading from works by Goethe, Marchwitza and Strittmatter. Encounters with books and poets (100). EA: Radio DDR II, March 29, 1970.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Frank-Rutger Hausmann : Walter Nowojski (1931–2012) / An obituary for Victor Klemperer's great editor. In: BIS - the magazine of the libraries in Saxony , No. 4/2012, pp. 259–260.
  2. ^ Sibling Scholl Prize 1995 - Viktor Klemperer. Laudation by Martin Walser.
  3. ↑ The broadcasts are archived in the German Broadcasting Archive Potsdam-Babelsberg
personal data
SURNAME Nowojski, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Germanist
DATE OF BIRTH November 12, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Annahütte (Lower Lusatia)
DATE OF DEATH November 8, 2012
Place of death Eichwalde