News |Half a century in exile - Marta Feuchtwanger talks about her life
During her time as a freelance journalist in Los Angeles, Marianne Heuwagen was friends with Marta Feuchtwanger, whom she interviewed several times about her life.
During these interviews, Marta told her of the harassment by the National Socialists to which she, her husband Lion, and many of his fellow writers in Germany were subject. Marta talked in detail about her escape, first to southern France and later to the United States, as well as her years in exile in California.
These conversations form the basis for the radio feature that was broadcast on NDR on July 18, 1982 and November 21, 1983. Many thanks to the NDR for allowing us to make the recording available once again.
Radio feature by Marianne Heuwagen - Source: NDR
The author
After completing her exams in history and German studies, Marianne Heuwagen went to Stanford University in California, where she earned an M.A. in communications. She then established herself as a freelance journalist on the West Coast of the U.S., reporting for the ARD broadcasting stations, DIE ZEIT and Süddeutsche Zeitung. During this time, she frequently dealt with issues of civil and human rights, as well as social developments in the U.S. In 1979, she moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles, where she became friends with Marta Feuchtwanger. In 1986, she returned to Germany as Berlin correspondent for the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Marianne worked for Süddeutsche Zeitung until 2005, when she opened Human Rights Watch's Germany office in Berlin.
In 1988, after the death of Marta Feuchtwanger, she co-founded the Friends of the Villa Aurora, which aimed to preserve the Feuchtwanger Villa as a cultural monument of exile. She is a member of the board and has made a decisive contribution to the preservation of the Villa Aurora as an artists' residence for more than 30 years.
