Maud von Ossietzky | |
---|---|
Born | 12 December 1888 |
Died | 12 May 1974 | (aged 85)
Occupation(s) | suffragette, political activist |
Spouse | Carl von Ossietzky (German) |
Children | Rosalinde von Ossietzky-Palm |
Maud Hester von Ossietzky (née Lichfield-Woods; 12 December 1888, Hyderabad – 12 May 1974, Berlin) was a suffragette and the wife of German journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Carl von Ossietzky.
She was born in Hyderabad, India, to a British colonial officer and the descendant of an Indian princess. [1] Despite her Indian heritage, she is almost always referred to as an "Englishwoman." [2] [3] [4] [5]
She was active in the British suffragette movement in her youth. [1]
In Hamburg (or perhaps Fairhaven, England) [6] on 19 August 1913, she married Carl von Ossietzky, a pacifist and later a writer for and editor-in-chief of the leftist German weekly Die Weltbühne (The World Stage). [7] [8] [4] The couple met in 1912 in Hamburg, but not much is known about their early life together. [8] It seems that her wealthy family opposed the marriage. [9] Early in their marriage, she paid a fine on his behalf after he published an anti-war article. [5] Surviving letters attest to Carl's devotion to his wife. While Carl served in World War I, he wrote Maud a letter that described her as an igniting force in his life: "You are the magnet that first touched the rigid iron." [9] In 1922, he wrote to her that he "blessed the fate that sent her." [9]
Their daughter Rosalinde was born on 21 December 1919. [3]
While Carl worked as a writer and political activist, Maud organized lectures for him. [6] In 1931, Carl von Ossietzky was imprisoned for "treason and espionage" because of his role in publishing details of German remilitarization; he was released in 1932. [10]
After the Reichstag Fire in April 1933, von Ossietzky wanted to flee Germany, but her husband chose to remain. [9] He was quickly arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in a series of prisons and concentration camps. [3] Whether she was a supportive wife [9] or incapable of helping her husband, [11] neither she nor her husband's famous international friends could release him from Nazi concentration camps.
In 1936, Carl von Ossietzky contracted tuberculosis and was moved to a hospital in Berlin. [1] He was awarded the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize during this period, though his sickness did not allow him to accept it in person. His wife nursed him until he died on 4 May 1938. [9] [6] Carl von Ossietzky was buried in a municipal cemetery, and Maud would spend the next years fighting to move his body to a cemetery in the Berlin neighborhood of Pankow. [12]
Von Ossietzky spent time in a psychiatric clinic after his death. [1] One author has claimed that the Gestapo ordered her to stop using her late husband's name and lived as "Maud Woods." [1]
Von Ossietzky invested the money awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize with lawyer Kurt Wannow, but Wannow embezzled the sum in 1937. [13] [3]
Many sources state that by the time the Nazis imprisoned her husband, von Ossietzky was an alcoholic, [11] with one writing that her alcoholism "caused [her husband] great pain ... but may have protected her from retribution under the Nazis." [2] Others have claimed that her husband's death caused her alcoholism. [1] Their daughter blamed Die Weltbühne for her mother's (unspecified) "illness." [9]
During World War II, Rosalinde was sent to a Quaker boarding school in England through the support of Ernst Toller and the Quakers. [11] [14] Another source claims that Maud and Rosalinde emigrated to Sweden via England, [13] though there are no other sources that place Maud in Sweden. A third source states that Maud remained in Berlin when Rosalinde traveled from England to Sweden. [14] Rosalinde died in Sweden in 2000. [15]
German sources tend to ascribe Maud a more positive and active role, [9] [6] while English-language scholarship often describes her in less complimentary terms. [1] [2] [11]
On 1 June 1946, Die Weltbühne reappeared in the Soviet sector of Berlin with Maud von Ossietzky and Hans Leonard listed as editors. [16] [17] [1] Leonard, her neighbor, had a career in publishing ended by Nazi antisemitic discrimination. [17] Von Ossietzky and Leonard revived a Weimar-era publication that endures to this day.
In 1966, von Ossietzky published her memoir, Maud von Ossietzky erzählt: ein Lebensbild (Maud von Ossietzky Explains: a Life Story). [18] German academic Wolfgang Schivelbusch describes the book as "admittedly unreliable," [1] while István Deák calls it "charming and straightforward." [16]
She died in 1974 in Berlin and is buried next to her husband in Pankow. [12] [19]
Maud von Ossietzky.
Maud von Ossietzky | |
---|---|
Born | 12 December 1888 |
Died | 12 May 1974 | (aged 85)
Occupation(s) | suffragette, political activist |
Spouse | Carl von Ossietzky (German) |
Children | Rosalinde von Ossietzky-Palm |
Maud Hester von Ossietzky (née Lichfield-Woods; 12 December 1888, Hyderabad – 12 May 1974, Berlin) was a suffragette and the wife of German journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Carl von Ossietzky.
She was born in Hyderabad, India, to a British colonial officer and the descendant of an Indian princess. [1] Despite her Indian heritage, she is almost always referred to as an "Englishwoman." [2] [3] [4] [5]
She was active in the British suffragette movement in her youth. [1]
In Hamburg (or perhaps Fairhaven, England) [6] on 19 August 1913, she married Carl von Ossietzky, a pacifist and later a writer for and editor-in-chief of the leftist German weekly Die Weltbühne (The World Stage). [7] [8] [4] The couple met in 1912 in Hamburg, but not much is known about their early life together. [8] It seems that her wealthy family opposed the marriage. [9] Early in their marriage, she paid a fine on his behalf after he published an anti-war article. [5] Surviving letters attest to Carl's devotion to his wife. While Carl served in World War I, he wrote Maud a letter that described her as an igniting force in his life: "You are the magnet that first touched the rigid iron." [9] In 1922, he wrote to her that he "blessed the fate that sent her." [9]
Their daughter Rosalinde was born on 21 December 1919. [3]
While Carl worked as a writer and political activist, Maud organized lectures for him. [6] In 1931, Carl von Ossietzky was imprisoned for "treason and espionage" because of his role in publishing details of German remilitarization; he was released in 1932. [10]
After the Reichstag Fire in April 1933, von Ossietzky wanted to flee Germany, but her husband chose to remain. [9] He was quickly arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned in a series of prisons and concentration camps. [3] Whether she was a supportive wife [9] or incapable of helping her husband, [11] neither she nor her husband's famous international friends could release him from Nazi concentration camps.
In 1936, Carl von Ossietzky contracted tuberculosis and was moved to a hospital in Berlin. [1] He was awarded the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize during this period, though his sickness did not allow him to accept it in person. His wife nursed him until he died on 4 May 1938. [9] [6] Carl von Ossietzky was buried in a municipal cemetery, and Maud would spend the next years fighting to move his body to a cemetery in the Berlin neighborhood of Pankow. [12]
Von Ossietzky spent time in a psychiatric clinic after his death. [1] One author has claimed that the Gestapo ordered her to stop using her late husband's name and lived as "Maud Woods." [1]
Von Ossietzky invested the money awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize with lawyer Kurt Wannow, but Wannow embezzled the sum in 1937. [13] [3]
Many sources state that by the time the Nazis imprisoned her husband, von Ossietzky was an alcoholic, [11] with one writing that her alcoholism "caused [her husband] great pain ... but may have protected her from retribution under the Nazis." [2] Others have claimed that her husband's death caused her alcoholism. [1] Their daughter blamed Die Weltbühne for her mother's (unspecified) "illness." [9]
During World War II, Rosalinde was sent to a Quaker boarding school in England through the support of Ernst Toller and the Quakers. [11] [14] Another source claims that Maud and Rosalinde emigrated to Sweden via England, [13] though there are no other sources that place Maud in Sweden. A third source states that Maud remained in Berlin when Rosalinde traveled from England to Sweden. [14] Rosalinde died in Sweden in 2000. [15]
German sources tend to ascribe Maud a more positive and active role, [9] [6] while English-language scholarship often describes her in less complimentary terms. [1] [2] [11]
On 1 June 1946, Die Weltbühne reappeared in the Soviet sector of Berlin with Maud von Ossietzky and Hans Leonard listed as editors. [16] [17] [1] Leonard, her neighbor, had a career in publishing ended by Nazi antisemitic discrimination. [17] Von Ossietzky and Leonard revived a Weimar-era publication that endures to this day.
In 1966, von Ossietzky published her memoir, Maud von Ossietzky erzählt: ein Lebensbild (Maud von Ossietzky Explains: a Life Story). [18] German academic Wolfgang Schivelbusch describes the book as "admittedly unreliable," [1] while István Deák calls it "charming and straightforward." [16]
She died in 1974 in Berlin and is buried next to her husband in Pankow. [12] [19]
Maud von Ossietzky.