Lilly Becher ( Korpus, 27 January 1901,

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

– 20 September 1978,

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 ...

) was a German writer, journalist and communist activist. Noted as one of the first

anti-Nazi Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

writers to produce documentary work dealing with the persecution of Jews in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

during the 1930s, Becher was the wife of noted writer

Johannes Becher Johannes Robert Becher (, 22 May 1891 – 11 October 1958) was a German politician, novelist, and poet. He was affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) before World War II. At one time, he was part of the literary avant-garde, writi ...

and achieved significant recognition in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

as a writer in her own right.

Biography

Becher was born as Lilly Korpus in

on 27 January 1901 and studied in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. Joining 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) during the first political climaxes of the post-

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

turmoil in 1919, she began a long career as a political journalist in the 1920s, working for the KPD newspaper ''

Die Rote Fahne ''Die Rote Fahne'' (, ''The Red Flag'') was a German newspaper originally founded in 1876 by Socialist Worker's Party leader Wilhelm Hasselmann, and which has been since published on and off, at times underground, by German Socialists and Commun ...

'' in 1921 and organizing a women's section of the Communist Party in 1922–1923. She moved to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1933, the year of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

's assumption of power in Germany, remaining for a year before moving to work for the Éditions du Carrefour publishing firm in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where she helped publicize and document the plight of

German Jews The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

under her homeland's

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

in Éditions du Carrefour's 1936 collection ''Der Gelbe Fleck: die Ausrottung von 500000 dt. Juden'', (The yellow spot: the extinction of 500000 dt. The Jews), one of the first such documentary works on the subject. The book's foreword was written by

Lion Feuchtwanger Lion Feuchtwanger (; 7 July 1884 – 21 December 1958) was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Republic, Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht. ...

. After meeting and marrying Johannes R. Becher, a revolutionary poet and fellow refugee from the Nazis in Paris, the two moved to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, living there until 1945. Both joined the

National Committee for a Free Germany The National Committee for a Free Germany (, or NKFD) was an Anti-fascism, anti-fascist political and military organisation formed in the Soviet Union during World War II, composed mostly of German defectors from the ranks of German prisoners of ...

following the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a ...

. With Germany's defeat in 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 ...

, the Bechers returned to the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

of the divided

Allied-occupied Germany The entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II, from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Unlike occupied Japan, Nazi Germany was stripped of its sov ...

. Lilly Becher worked as head editor of the '' Neuen Berliner Illustrierten'', a major

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

weekly magazine, from 1945 until 1950. Johannes Becher composed the lyrics to the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

, ''

Auferstanden aus Ruinen "" (; 'Risen from the Ruins') was the national anthem of East Germany. Background In 1949, the Soviet occupation zone of Allied-occupied Germany became a socialist state under the name of the "German Democratic Republic" (GDR). For the new sta ...

'', during the same period. Becher completed her husband's biography in 1963, five years after his death in 1958. She won high official recognition by the

government in the 1960s and 1970s, among them the prestigious East German

Banner of Labor The Banner of Labor () was an order issued in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was given for "excellent and long-standing service in strengthening and consolidating the GDR, especially for achieving outstanding results for the national ec ...

(''Banner der Arbeit'') for outstanding achievement in 1969. Becher died on 20 September 1978.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becher, Lilly 1901 births 1978 deaths Writers from Nuremberg Writers from the Kingdom of Bavaria Communist Party of Germany politicians Socialist Unity Party of Germany politicians National Committee for a Free Germany members East German journalists 20th-century German women journalists East German writers East German women East German women in politics German journalists German women journalists Marxist journalists Refugees from Nazi Germany in the Soviet Union Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit Recipients of the Banner of Labor German women biographers 20th-century German women writers 20th-century German writers Communist women writers 20th-century German biographers German magazine editors German women magazine editors German anti-fascists Female anti-fascists