Kurt Kläber (1897–1959), who published under the pseudonym Kurt Held, was a writer and Communist displaced from Germany during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life

Kläber left school at the age of 14 and began training as a locksmith and later trained to be a mechanic at Zeiss. He joined the

Wandervogel ''Wandervogel'' (plural: ''Wandervögel''; English: "Wandering Bird") is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 to 1933, who protested against industrialization by going to hike in the country and commune with na ...

bewegung and traveled through many countries of Europe. World War I broke out and put an end to his travels. In 1914 he joined the German Army and fought in World War I, where he was wounded and contracted typhoid fever.

Politics

Upon returning from the war he joined the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

(KPD) and the

Spartakusbund The Spartacus League () was a Marxist revolutionary movement organized in Germany during World War I. It was founded in August 1914 as the International Group by Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, Clara Zetkin, and other members of the Social Dem ...

. He participated in armed uprisings in Halle,

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

as well as in the strike against the

Kapp-Putsch The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an abortive coup d'état against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to und ...

. He earned his living as a traveling book salesmen for the

Thüringen Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany's 16 states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

Ministry of Culture, specializing in political literature: social critical lyrics, as well as novels depicting the hardships of the working class. He published his first volume of workers poetry “Neue Saat” (new seed) in 1919. In 1923 he traveled to the USA and spent a year touring, giving lectures and studying the situation of workers in the USA. His experiences in the USA became his first novel written in 1923, which wasn't published until 1927 “Passagiere der III. Klasse” (Third Class Passengers). Back in Germany in 1924 he married the writer and professional storyteller Lisa Tetzner. Together they traveled promoting communist literature. In addition to writing, giving lectures and editing magazines and books Kläber also worked in mines near Köln, as well as other jobs to aid his understanding of the working class laborers. He joined the Bund proletarisch-revolutionäre Schriftsteller (the Association of Proletarian-Revolutionary Authors) and was one of the publishers of the journal regularly sent to their members, Linkskurve. Kläber gained a reputation as a leading authority on Communist literature. As a known opponent of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

, he was arrested the day after the

Reichstag fire The Reichstag fire (, ) was an arson attack on the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, on Monday, 27 February 1933, precisely four weeks after Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. Marinus van der Lubbe, ...

and incarcerated. With the help of his wife, he was soon released from prison and sent into exile over Austria to Carona in Ticino in neutral Switzerland. In 1938 he left the KPD as a reaction to the

Stalinist Stalinism (, ) is the totalitarian means of governing and Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1927 to 1953 by dictator Joseph Stalin and in Soviet satellite states between 1944 and 1953. Stalinism in ...

orientated party line.

Literary career

With the encouragement of his wife, Lisa, Kläber devoted himself to writing. The conditions of his exile prohibited him from publishing under his own name, so he adopted the pseudonym Kurt Held. He saw children as the true victims of war, class struggle and injustice. His books portrayed children realistically and conveyed messages of morality. His greatest success " The Outsiders of Uskoken Castle" was soon followed by similar books about working class children: “Der Trommler von Faido” (The Drummer of Faido), “Matthias und seine Freunde” (Matthias and his Friends) and the four volume series “Giuseppe und Maria”.

Death

He died in exile on 9 December 1959 in Sorengo, Switzerland from the consequences of the

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

he contracted in World War I.

Books

*''Neue Saat'' poetry Jena: Volksbuchhandlung, 1919 *''Empörer! Empor!'' Stories, Sketches and Travel Reports. Berlin: Verlag Der Syndikalist, 1925 *''Revolutionäre. Erzählungen aus den Kämpfen des Proletariats'' 1918–1925: Leipzig: Roter-Türmer-Verlag, 1925 *''Barrikaden an der Ruhr'' novel 1925 *''Passagiere der 3. Klasse'' novel Berlin: Internationaler Arbeiter-Verlag, 1927 *''Die Toten von Pabjanice'' narrations Moskau: Verlagsgenossenschaft ausländ. Arbeiter in der UdSSR, 1936 *''Die rote Zora und ihre Bande'' ( The Outsiders of Oskoken Castle) Aarau: Sauerländer, 1941 *''Der Trommler von Faido'' Historical tales of Levantina. 2 Bde. Aarau: Sauerländer, 1947 / 1949 *''Matthias und seine Freunde'' Aarau. Sauerländer, 1950 *''Spuk in Neuhausen'' Berlin: Weiss, 1951 *''Alles für zwanzig Rappen'' The experiences of a small rebel Aarau: Sauerländer, 1951 *''Giuseppe und Maria'' 4 volumes Aarau: Sauerländer, 1955–56 (A Journey to Naples, of smugglers, mercenaries and soldiers, the children's city, the process) *''Mein Bruder Georg'' Gütersloh: Rufer-Verlag, 1955

Sources

https://web.archive.org/web/20191023105744/http://www.buchstart.ch/de/autoren/Held_Kurt/214.html https://web.archive.org/web/20110510020002/http://www.mdr.de/geschichte-mitteldeutschlands/reise/personen/132251.html

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Held, Kurt 1897 births 1959 deaths Communist Party of Germany Communist writers Jewish-German families German children's writers German resistance members Communists in the German Resistance German male writers