“I Fight Against Everything that Tries to Oppress Me”

The Diary of Jewish Communist Resistance Fighter Karl Neuhof and Correspondence with his Family – Book Launch (video recording available, in German)

Documents from the Nazi era written from the perspective of the persecuted are rare and historically important. Such is the diary of the Jewish communist resistance fighter Karl Neuhof, who was arrested in 1943 and murdered in the Sachsen­hausen concen­tration camp. Few of those persecuted had both opportunity and courage to put their thoughts and feelings down in writing. When they did do this, sooner or later their life-threatening records were usually destroyed: by the per­petrators, by bombs, or – to protect both themselves and others – by the author.

recording available

Map with all buildings that belong to the Jewish Museum Berlin. The W. M. Blumenthal Academy is marked in green

Where

W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
Klaus Mangold Auditorium
Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
(Opposite the Museum)

Where, when, what?

Video recording from 11 Apr 2022, in German; Jewish Museum Berlin

The estate of Karl Neuhof, which includes his prison diary and corres­pondence with and between his family, has been gifted to the Jewish Museum Berlinʼs archive by his son Peter Neuhof. For the publication Ich kämpfe gegen alles, was mich niederdrücken will (I Fight Against Everything that Tries to Oppress Me), Peter Neuhof deciphered his father's prison diary and corres­pondence in order to make them – supplemented with annotations – available to a broader interested public.

Peter Neuhof and the publisher Bernward Dörner will present the book in conver­sation with Aubrey Pomerance, head of the Jewish Museum Berlinʼs archives. Actor Bertram von Boxberg will read excerpts from the diary.

In cooperation with Metropol Verlag

Portrait Karl Neuhof

Karl Neuhof, passport photo ca. 1935; Jewish Museum Berlin, accession 2016/52/288, photo: Kim Dresel

Where, when, what?

  • WhenMon 11 Apr 2022, 7 pm
  • Where W. M. Blumenthal Academy,
    Klaus Mangold Auditorium
    Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 1, 10969 Berlin
    (Opposite the Museum)
    See location on map

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