Heym, Stefan, 1913-2001

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Stefan Heym (1913-2001) was an East German/American Jewish writer. He was born in Chemnitz, and in 1933 became Germany's youngest literary exile, spending the next two years subsisting from his writing in Prague. In 1935 he settled in America, where his activities included editing a German-language, anti-Fascist newspaper in New York, 1937-1939, and writing his first bestseller, Hostages . As an American soldier during World War II, he was at the spearhead of the Normandy invasion, and wrote broadcasts for Radio Luxembourg and newspapers in 1945 for the German civilian population. During the McCarthy purges Heym returned to Europe, and lived in East Berlin from 1953 until his death. In Germany his writings were influential, but at a cost: his open criticism of 'real existing socialism' brought him into conflict with the authorities, and he had the largest secret police file in East Germany. Heym received wide media coverage as a literary and political figure, and today his books are constantly in print in Germany.

From the guide to the Stefan Heym: Papers, 1931-[ongoing], (Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Carl Aldo Marzani Papers [1890]-1994, (bulk 1935-1975). Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
referencedIn Marzani, Carl. Papers, 1890-1994 (bulk 1935-1975). Churchill County Museum
referencedIn Stefan Heym: Papers, 1931-[ongoing] Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives
referencedIn The Nation, records, 1879-1974 (inclusive), 1920-1955 (bulk). Houghton Library
referencedIn Bessie, Alvah Cecil, 1904-1985. Papers, 1929-1991. Wisconsin Historical Society, Newspaper Project
referencedIn J. B. Matthews Papers, 1862-1986 and undated David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library
creatorOf Stefan Heym: Papers, 1931-[ongoing] Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives
referencedIn Carl Aldo Marzani Papers, Bulk, 1935-1975, [1890]-1994, (Bulk 1935-1975) Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Bessie, Alvah Cecil, 1904-1985. person
associatedWith Heym, Stefan person
associatedWith Marzani, Carl person
associatedWith Marzani, Carl. person
associatedWith Matthews, J. B. (Joseph Brown), 1894-1966 person
correspondedWith Nation (New York, N.Y. : 1865). corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
Germany
Subject
Literature
Novels
Politics
Short stories
World War
Occupation
Activity

Person

Birth 1913-04-10

Death 2001-12-16

Germans

German

Information

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