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News from the exile collections

Ausschnitt der illustrierten Titelseite des London Diary von Lili Cassel. Ein zeichnendes Mädchen sitzt zwischen Wolken vermutlich auf einem Sperrballon zur Abwehr von Luftangriffen. Die Illustrationen sind mit Tusche und Wasserfarben gemalt.

Trude Simonsohn (1921-2022) – in memoriam

Trude Simonsohn in her living room in Frankfurt. In the background a picture of her husband Berthold Simonsohn.

On 6 January 2022, Trude Simonsohn died at the age of 100. The German Exile Archive 1933-1945 enjoyed close, long-standing ties with Trude Simonsohn. As a survivor of the Theresienstadt and Auschwitz concentration camps, she worked with great commitment for reconciliation and against forgetting.

Trude Simonsohn was an impressive individual, as anyone who met her knows. She shared her opinions and experiences without any moralistic finger-wagging, with great joie de vivre, yet also with seriousness and passion.

Regarded as something of an institution in Frankfurt am Main, Trude Simonsohn was greatly respected by that city’s community and made an honorary citizen.

When the German National Library celebrated her 100th birthday, we asked 100 public figures to recommend a book to us published in the year of her birth. Trude Simonsohn herself chose Vicki Baum’s novel “Die Tänze der Ina Raffay. Ein Leben” (“The Dances of Ina Raffay. A Life”), which was published in 1921. “Because I had read quite a few novels by V. Baum in my youth, I borrowed the book. I found it gripping and highly imaginative”, Trude Simonsohn commented. We were able to visit her at home to discuss the book. The photograph shown here stems from this book.

We will greatly miss Trude Simonsohn.

(Dr. Sylvia Asmus)

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Content

  1. Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer (1928–2024) – in memoriam
  2. Guy Stern (1922–2023) – in memoriam
  3. Trude Simonsohn (1921-2022) – in memoriam
  4. “Child Emigration from Frankfurt am Main. Stories of rescue, loss and remembrance”
  5. Questionnaires as a source for researching German-speaking exile – using Alfred Kantorowicz as an example
  6. Professor Dr. John M. Spalek (1928-2021) in memoriam
  7. Lieselotte Maas (1937-2020) – In memoriam
  8. Ruth Klüger (1931-2020) – in memoriam
  9. "What should I cook?" Recipes from the German Exile Archive 1933-1945
  10. Hellmut Stern (1928-2020) - In memoriam
  11. Thomas Mann: German listeners! – listening station on the topic of exile outside our Frankfurt building
  12. Publication of exhibition catalogue “Exile. Experience and Testimony”
  13. Focusing on the topic of exile – the history magazine "Damals" ("Yesteryear") is published in collaboration with the German Exile Archive 1933–1945
  14. Dora Schindel (1915–2018) – In memoriam
  15. Werner Berthold (1921–2017) – In memoriam
  16. Rolf Kralovitz (1925 - 2015) – In memoriam
  17. Buddy Elias – In memoriam
  18. Arts in Exile – virtual exhibition and network
  19. Brigitte Kralovitz-Meckauer (1925–2014) – in memoriam
  20. Ludwig Werner Kahn - 100th birthday
  21. Goethe Medal and honorary membership of the Gesellschaft für Exilforschung e.V. awarded to Professor John M. Spalek
  22. "Nestor of German finance" - Fritz Neumark's 110th birthday
  23. Book donation for the German National Library
  24. "A prisoner of Stalin and Hitler" - 20 years since the death of Margarete Buber-Neumann
  25. The founder of futurology – the 100th birthday of Ossip K. Flechtheim
  26. On the death of lyricist Emma Kann
  27. Nestor of exile research 1933–1945 in the USA - the 80th birthday of Prof. Dr. John M. Spalek
  28. Pre-mortem legacy of politologist John G. Stoessinger in the German Exile Archive 1933-1945
  29. Lili Cassel Wronker: A London Diary, 1939-1940
  30. Chronicler of her century – 90th birthday of Anja Lundholm
  31. Reichsausbürgerungskartei
  32. Hans Gustav Güterbock
  33. Geneviève Pitot: The Mauritian-Shekel

Last changes: 21.01.2022

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