The famous German writer Thomas Mann (1875-1955) faced a difficult situation when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party came to power in January 1933.
In January 1933, Thomas Mann and his wife Katia were outside Germany. The children warned them:
“Don't come home!”
They stayed outside Germany. He was safe and so was his wife. The Nazis could not arrest them, because they were outside Germany.
But the Nazis could still hurt him and his wife indirectly by going after his family. Their six children were still in Germany.
His brother Heinrich and his brother's partner in life Nelly were still in Germany.
In this situation, Thomas Mann did not want to say or do anything which could be regarded as an insult or a provocation by the Nazis.
The two oldest children Erika and Klaus managed to leave Germany in March 1933. Heinrich and Nelly managed to get out around the same time.
Golo and the three youngest children managed to get out in May 1933. But before Golo left Germany, he had to perform an important task for his father.
Thomas Mann kept a diary. He had done this since he was a teenager in Lübeck. He was candid and honest when he was writing his diary. He revealed his deepest secrets to his diary, thinking that nobody except himself would ever read the contents. At least, not as long as he was alive.
He had a deep personal secret. He was fascinated by young men who had a beautiful body. He had strong feelings when he saw a handsome young man.
But he never acted on these feelings. He knew homosexual activities were illegal in Germany. He was not going to be a victim of the infamous paragraph 175 which declared homosexual activities a crime.
Instead, he used his observations in his writings. Or he wrote about them in his private diary.
He had not prepared for a life in exile. When he left his house in Munich, his diaries were placed in a small cabinet in his office.
Now he was concerned. He did not want the Nazis to find and read his private diaries. If they did, they were going to tell the whole world about his secret. His reputation would be ruined. He did not want this to happen.
He contacted Golo and told him to go to the house and find the diaries. He warned him:
“Do not read them!”
He told Golo to pack them in a suitcase, go to the post office and send it to him in Switzerland.
Golo went to the house where he found the diaries. He packed them in a suitcase which he handed to the family driver. He told him to send it to Thomas Mann in Switzerland.
Golo did not know that the family driver was secretly working for the Nazis. The driver brought the suitcase to the Nazi office in Munich!
When Golo found out what had happened, he had to tell his father. Now Thomas Mann had to contact his lawyer in Germany and ask him to go into action.
The lawyer went to the Nazi office in Munich and he was lucky. He was able to get hold of the suitcase before the Nazis had a chance to open it and study the contents.
The lawyer went to the post office and sent the suitcase to Thomas Mann in Switzerland. When the suitcase reached Thomas in Switzerland, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The Nazis had not discovered his secret!
The diaries were not the only problem which Thomas had to deal with while he was in exile. There were other problems:
He had a large villa in Munich. He had lived in this villa since 1914. He had to accept that this asset was probably lost. He should have sold it in 1932 and transferred the money to a bank account in Switzerland.
He had a summer residence in Nida in Lithuania. The house was built in 1929. He only stayed there three times: during the summer of 1930, 1931, and 1932.
He had to accept that this asset was probably lost as well. He should have sold it in 1932. But he did not know what was coming!
He had some money in a bank in Munich. He told Golo to go to the bank and withdraw as much money as possible. Golo went to the bank and he was lucky. He was able to withdraw a substantial amount of money.
Golo carried this money with him when he left Germany in May 1933. It was risky, but he was lucky. He was not searched and the money was not found when he crossed the border.
Thomas needed money to support himself and his family during the exile. He did not know how long this was going to last.
He might write some new books while he was in exile and he might make some money in this way, but he needed some money to cover the beginning of his exile.
It was very fortunate that Golo was able to withdraw money from his account in Germany and very lucky that he was able to bring this money to Switzerland.
Thomas knew the Nazis were watching him and his brother Heinrich. The Nazis were very angry with Heinrich. But not so angry with Thomas.
Heinrich had spoken against the Nazis. He was regarded as an enemy. His books were burned during a ceremony in May 1933. And his citizenship was cancelled in 1933.
Thomas was under observation, but in 1933 he was not yet regarded as an enemy. His citizenship was not cancelled in 1933. This did not happen until 1936.
Thomas Mann did not negotiate with the Nazis in 1933. He did not give them anything. But he had to deal with a difficult situation.
He tried to keep a low profile while members of his family were still in Germany. He knew the Nazis might arrest a member of his family in Germany just to hurt him or to punish him. He did not want to give them a reason to do this.
Fortunately, all six children managed to leave Germany in 1933. Fortunately, his brother Heinrich and Nelly managed to leave Germany in 1933.
Heinrich and Nelly never returned to Germany. They died in exile in the US. Nelly in 1944. Heinrich in 1950.
Thomas Mann and Katia were also in the US. They were there for many years. They returned to Europe in 1952. But Thomas did not want to live in Germany again. He decided to live in Switzerland where he died in 1955.
Katia lived longer than him.
She died in Switzerland in 1980.
All six children survived World War II.
PS. The diaries of Thomas Mann were sealed for 20 years after his death in 1955. This was in accordance with his last will and testament.
In 1975, they were unsealed and over the following years they were published in several volumes. The diaries reveal his thoughts and feelings during his life. He kept them to himself while he was alive.
When the diaries were unsealed, scholars were able to confirm what they had long suspected:
Thomas Mann was fascinated when he saw a young man with a beautiful body.
REFERENCES
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Thomas Mann and
his wife Katia (born Pringsheim)
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