Maria Leitner (19 January 1892 – 14 March 1942) was a Hungarian writer and journalist in the German language. She is remembered as a pioneer of "undercover reporting".

Early years

Maria Leitner came from a bilingual Jewish family. She was born, the eldest of her parents' three recorded children, on 19 January 1892 in

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

, Austria-Hungary, today in

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. Her father, Leopold Leitner, ran a small building business. In 1896 the family relocated to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

where she grew up and attended "The Royal Senior Girls' School" between 1902 and 1910. It was probably here that she learned both her

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and her

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

. She then studied

art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

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. ...

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 ...

, completing an internship in

Paul Cassirer Paul Cassirer (21 February 1871, in Görlitz – 7 January 1926, in Berlin) was a German art dealer and editor who played a significant role in the promotion of the work of artists of the Berlin Secession and of French Impressionists and Post-Im ...

's Berlin gallery which resulted in a translation into German of

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraving, engraver, pictorial social satire, satirist, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from Realism (visual arts), realistic p ...

's "Aufzeichnungen" (loosely: ''"notes"'')

Career

From 1913, she worked for the newspaper ''Az Est'' ("Evening"). After

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

broke out in the summer of 1914 she worked as a reporter – at one stage reporting for the

newspapers from

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. In 1920, she fled from Hungary to Germany because of her left-wing anti-militarist activities. In Germany, she wrote for various newspapers, and books reviews for the publishing house Ullstein. In her book ''Hotel Amerika'', she describes poor America from within. As a result, she was a hired as a cleaning lady in luxury hotels. Her work was thus connected with the literary current of the

Neue Sachlichkeit The New Objectivity (in ) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle'' in Mannheim, who used it as the title of ...

("New Objectivity"), in vogue in the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

.Volker Weidermann, 2009, Das Buch der verbrannten Bücher, btb-verlag, page 70 (in German) In 1933, after the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

came to power, Leitner, a Jew and a revolutionary, emigrated from Germany and went into exile. Her works were banned from publication in Nazi Germany. She earned her living by writing in the anti-Nazi magazine ''Das Wort'' published in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

.Wilhelm Sternfeld, Eva Tiedemann, 1970, Deutsche Exil-Litteratur 1933–1945 second edition expanded, Heidelberg, Verlag Lambert Schneider, page 301 (in German) In 1940, she was in France, and as with a number of exiles from Germany, she was interned at

Gurs internment camp Gurs internment camp (, ) was an internment camp and prisoner of war camp constructed in 1939 in Gurs, a site in southwestern France, not far from Pau. The camp was originally set up by the French government after the fall of Catalonia at t ...

. She managed to escape but could not leave France. The conditions of her death are unclear. In July 1940, she wrote to

Hubertus, Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg Prince Hubertus zu Loewenstein-Wertheim-Freudenberg (October 14, 1906 – November 28, 1984) was a German historian and political figure who was an early opponent of Adolf Hitler. He fled Germany and helped to promote anti-Nazism in the Uni ...

, the most famous of the founding signatories of the

American Guild for German Cultural Freedom American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. In total she had already written at least twelve letters to the guild between 1938 and March 1941, seeking assistance: the letters have been kept by them in their "Archive of German Exiles". This last appeal for desperate help is Leitner's last known piece of writing. However, she was last seen in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

early in 1941 by

Anna Seghers Anna Seghers (; born ''Anna Reiling,'' 19 November 1900 – 1 June 1983), is the pseudonym of German writer Anna Reiling, who was notable for exploring and depicting the moral experience of the Second World War. Born into a Jewish family and mar ...

and Alexander Abusch. She may have died in exile: one source speculates that she died of hunger, isolated in

. Another speculates that she was one of many Jewish political exiles from Germany who failed to obtain exit visas from the French authorities and were rounded up and deported to concentration camps in Germany where many were killed.

Selected works

*1930, ''Hotel Amerika'', roman-reportage *1932, ''Eine Frau reist durch die Welt'', reportage *2013, ''Mädchen mit drei Namen. Reportagen aus Deutschland und ein Berliner Roman, 1928–1933'', Berlin, AvivA Verlag *2014, ''Elisabeth, ein Hitlermädchen. Ein Roman und Reportagen (1934–1939)'', Berlin, AvivA Verlag

Early years

Career

Selected works

References

Further reading