Heinrich Mann, ein tschechoslowakischer Staatsbürger: Wie Heinrich Mann Tschechoslowake wurde

Abstract

Heinrich Mann, a Czechoslovak Citizen, or How Heinrich Mann Turned to Be a Czechoslovak

After the Nazis had come to power in Germany, Heinrich Mann at the age of almost sixty-two had to flee into exile to France in early 1933. One of the first acts of the Hitler regime was to proscribe all the opponents they could not arrest. The consequence was that Heinrich Mann lost his German citizenship; his name was on the first list released to the public. French authorities accepted his German passport, but it was valid only till 1936. Heinrich Mann thought at first that his French connections were enough powerful to let him obtain a French passport rather quickly. But he was wrong and had to search for another solution. At this time Czechoslovakia was a nation friendly to members of foreign intelligentsia. Heinrich Mann was personally acquainted with the Czechoslovak president Masaryk. With the help of his connections he was successful in acquiring Czechoslovak citizenship.

Keywords: Interwar period, Czechoslovakia, German emigration, Resistance against Nazism, Heinrich Mann, Thomas Mann