Wenzel, Hilde, 1905-1972

In 1905 the lawyer Ludwig Chodziesner and his wife Elise (née Schoenflies) had a daughter, Hilde. Her oldest sister was the poet Gertrud Kolmar. The family was an assimilated one. In 1923 the Chodziesners moved from their former home in Charlottenburg to the suburb of Finkenkrug.

At some point during the early 1930s Hilde married the book dealer Peter Wenzel, and they had a daughter, Sabine, in 1933. In 1938 she left Germany with her daughter and went to Zurich, leaving behind her husband, sister and father, although her sister Gertrud was a frequent correspondent. During the war Gertrud sent some of her manuscripts to Hilde as well as to her brother-in-law. In 1942 she and Peter Wenzel divorced. In March 1943 he informed her of Gertrud's deportation. After the end of the war, Peter Wenzel assisted in the publication of Gertrud Kolmar's works.

Shortly after her immigration to Switzerland, Hilde Wenzel settled in the canton of Ticino (Tessin) in the south of the country, and many of her published short stories reflect her connection to this area, where she remained for the rest of her life. She died in Switzerland in November 1972.

From the guide to the Hilde Wenzel Collection, 1906-1972, bulk 1918-1928, bulk 1950-1960, (Leo Baeck Institute)