Paul Hofmann (20 November 1912 in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

– 30 December 2008) was an Austrian, later American, author, journalist, linguist, and political activist.Tagliabue, John (31 December 2008)
"Paul Hofmann, Author and Foe of Nazis, Dies at 96".
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. ''

'', for whom he was a foreign correspondent, described him as fluent in German, Italian, French, and English, and having a command of several other languages that was more than passable, as well as "a broad grasp of history and diplomatic affairs and an often playful curiosity".

Biography

Hofmann was born in

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

on 20 November 1912. He was raised for the most part by his uncle, who was an influential

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

. He studied law at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

after which he became a member of the Christian Socialist Party. In 1934 he became a travelling speaker for the Catholic Popular Federation, and after two years with the Federation, he became the chief editorial writer of one of their publications, '' Die Sonntagsglocke''. In the late 1930s, as Austria came under increasing pressure to submit to a union with Germany, Hofmann wrote editorials urging his country to resist the Nazi initiative. In March 1938 as German troops occupied Vienna he fled to Rome, Italy, only hours before his apartment was raided by the Gestapo. In Rome during German occupation, he was drafted into the German Army where he worked as the interpreter for the Nazi commanders, General Rainer Stahel and General

Kurt Mälzer Kurt Mälzer (2 August 1894 – 24 March 1952) was a German general of the ''Luftwaffe'' and a war criminal during World War II. In 1943, Mälzer was appointed the military commander of the city of Rome, subordinated to General Eberhard von Mack ...

. After contacting members of the anti-Fascist Resistance in Rome he passed them information gleaned from his work, including information about the deportation of Jews and the

Ardeatine massacre The Ardeatine massacre, or Fosse Ardeatine massacre ( it, Eccidio delle Fosse Ardeatine), was a mass killing of 335 civilians and political prisoners carried out in Rome on 24 March 1944 by German occupation troops during the Second World War ...

. Eventually deserting, Hoffman hid with his family in a convent, and later a safe apartment. In November 1944 he was convicted in absentia and sentenced to death for treason by a German military court in occupied northern Italy."Paul Hofmann, who informed on Nazis before becoming a New York Times journalist, dies at 96".

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

. After Rome was captured by the Allies Hofmann briefly worked for the

Allied Psychological Warfare Bureau An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

as a broadcaster. After the war he served as a witness in the prosecution of General Mälzer for war crimes. Linking up with allied journalists in Rome soon after liberation Hofmann became a news assistant at

' bureau in Rome. He would continue to report for the ''Times'' until his retirement in 1990. In Rome, he married Maria Anna Tratter and in 1940 they had a son, Ernesto. He also had a son with Christine Lord, Alexander Hofmann-Lord

After his retirement from the Times, in 1990, he wrote more than a dozen books, including, ''The Seasons of Rome: A Journal'', ''That Fine Italian Hand'', ''The Viennese'' and ''O Vatican! A Slightly Wicked View of the Holy See''. He died in Rome on 30 December 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hofmann, Paul 1912 births 2008 deaths German Army personnel of World War II The New York Times writers People sentenced to death in absentia 20th-century Austrian journalists Austrian emigrants to the United States