Berta Lask (17 November 1878 – 28 March 1967) was a German writer, playwright and journalist.
She joined the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
in 1923 and much of her published work is strongly polemical.
Sources identify her under several different names. Between her marriage to
Louis Jacobsohn in 1901 and 1917 she used, for some purposes, the name Berta Jacobsohn. After the death of both her brothers in law, the couple changed their name to Jacobsohn-Lask. She also wrote under the pseudonym "Gerhard Wieland".
Life
Provenance and early years
Berta Lask was born into a prosperous Jewish family in
Wadowitz, a small industrialising town at that time in
Galicia, and a short distance to the southwest of
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
. She was the third of her parents' four recorded children. Her parents had grown up in the north of Germany, and despite living in
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
still held Prussian nationality. Her father, Leopold Lask (1841–1905), owned a paper factory in
Falkenberg
Falkenberg is a locality and the seat of Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 27,813 inhabitants in 2019 (out of a municipal total of about 45,000). It is located at the mouth of river Ätran. The name consists of the Swedish ...
, far to the north. Her mother, Cerline Lask (?-1921) was a teacher. The elder of her brothers,
Emil Lask
Emil Lask (25 September 1875 – 26 May 1915) was a German philosopher. A student of Heinrich Rickert at Freiburg University, he was a member of the Southwestern school of neo-Kantianism.
Biography
Lask was born in Austrian Galicia, as a son ...
(1875–1915), would achieve eminence as a
neo-Kantian
In late modern continental philosophy, neo-Kantianism (german: Neukantianismus) was a revival of the 18th-century philosophy of Immanuel Kant. The Neo-Kantians sought to develop and clarify Kant's theories, particularly his concept of the "thi ...
philosopher.
In 1885 the family moved to
Falkenberg
Falkenberg is a locality and the seat of Falkenberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 27,813 inhabitants in 2019 (out of a municipal total of about 45,000). It is located at the mouth of river Ätran. The name consists of the Swedish ...
in Brandenburg.
[ Berta Lask attended primary school in Berlin and a secondary school ''( Gymnasium)'' in ]Bad Freienwalde
Bad Freienwalde is a spa town in the Märkisch-Oderland district in Brandenburg, Germany.
Geography
The town is situated on the Alte Oder, an old branch of the Oder River at the northwestern rim of the Oderbruch basin and the steep rise of the ...
, a short distance to the northeast of the capital.[ Her mother was dismissive of her wish progress with her education, and it was partly as a reaction against her mother's attitudes that Berta first made contact with political feminism.][ Through her brother Emil, three years her senior, she also came into contact with other intellectual currents of the time.][ In her late teens she began her first forays into serious writing. It was also during this period, in 1894/95, that she studied in Berlin with ]Helene Lange
Helene Lange (9 April 1848 in Oldenburg – 13 May 1930 in Berlin) was a pedagogue and feminist. She is a symbolic figure of the international and German civil rights feminist movement. In the years from 1919 to 1921 she was a member of the ...
who was already gaining a reputation as a leading advocate of women's rights.
In 1901 Berta Lask married Louis Jacobsohn (1863–1940), a neurologist
Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...
and histologist
Histology,
also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vis ...
who was teaching at Berlin's Frederick-William University (as it was known at the time). During the next few years they had four recorded children.[ In 1912 her first unpublished stage work appeared under the title "Auf dem Hinterhof, vier Treppen links" (''"In the backyard, four steps to the left"'').
]
War
Both her brothers were killed in the First World War.[
Through her husband's work as a doctor Lask became increasingly radicalised, which formed the context for her activism in the women's movement and later her support for the ]October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...
in Leningrad in 1917 and the November Revolution in Berlin in 1918. After
After may refer to:
Literature
* ''After'' (Elgar), an 1895 poem by Philip Bourke Marston set to music by Edward Elgar
* ''After'' (Prose novel), a 2003 novel by Francine Prose
* ''After'' (book), a 2005 book by Canadian writer Francis Chalifour
...
the war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
, between 1919 and 1921 she entitled two volumes of poetry reflective of the war experience and the deaths of her own brothers entitled "Stimmen" (''"Voices"'') and "Rufe aus dem Dunkel" (''"Calls out of the dark"'').[ Along with her poetry, she published articles for "The Red Flag" (''"Die Rote Fahne"'') and other less high-profile revolutionary newspapers. In 1923 she joined the recently established ]Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
in Berlin.[ She provided material for the party's Agitation and Propaganda group.][ Her output included the chorus "The call of the dead - speaking chorus to commemorate ]Karl Liebknecht
Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht (; 13 August 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a German socialist and anti-militarist. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) beginning in 1900, he was one of its deputies in the Reichstag fro ...
and Rosa Luxemburg" (''"Die Toten rufen - Sprechchor zum Gedenken an Karl Liebknecht
Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht (; 13 August 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a German socialist and anti-militarist. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) beginning in 1900, he was one of its deputies in the Reichstag fro ...
und Rosa Luxemburg"''), the stage pieces "Leuna 1921" (which appeared in 1927) and "Thomas Müntzer", and children's books such as "Through Time on the Flying Horse" (''"Auf dem Flügelpferde durch die Zeiten"'') and "How Franz and Greta traveled to Russia" (''"Wie Franz und Grete nach Russland reisten"''). She had made her own first visit to Russia in 1925.[
]
Weimar years
During the Weimar period
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
Berta Lask found herself before the judges charges with high treason several times. Her published plays were confiscated and performances of them banned. Her works also featured in trials launched against communist book sellers. In 1927, however, the cases against her failed. Along with Johannes R. Becher, Frida Rubiner
Frida Rubiner (born Frida Ichak / Фрида Абрамовна Ицхоки: 28 April 1879 – 22 January 1952) was a political activist ( KPD), writer, journalist and translator of important communist Russian texts into German. Pseudonyms und ...
, Franz Carl Weiskopf
Franz Carl Weiskopf (3 April 1900 in Prague – 14 September 1955) was a German-speaking writer. Born in Prague, then part of Austria-Hungary, he was often referred to as F. C. Weiskopf, he also used the pseudonyms Petr Buk, Pierre Buk and F. W. L. ...
and others she was a member of the planning committee and a founder member of the Association of Proletarian-Revolutionary Authors (''"Bund proletarisch-revolutionärer Schriftsteller"'' / BPRS) which they launched on 19 October 1928, with Lask becoming deputy secretary to the national executive in 1932.[ She was also a member of the Protection League of German authors (''"Schutzverband deutscher Schriftsteller"'' / SDS). Her work by now was chiefly restricted to journalism.
]
Nazi years and Soviet exile
The Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...
took power in January 1933 and lost little time in converting
Converting companies are companies that specialize in modifying or combining raw materials such as polyesters, adhesives, silicone, adhesive tapes, foams, plastics, felts, rubbers, liners and metals, as well as other materials, to create new pro ...
the
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
German state into a one-party dictatorship
A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...
. Political activity (unless in support of the Nazi party) became illegal. Berta Lask was arrested and held in "protective custody" between March and June.[ After that, probably in August 1933 (though sources differ as to the precise dates) she emigrated via ]Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
to the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
.[ She lived in Moscow at least till 1936,][ by which time all three of her sons and her husband had relocated from ]Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
to the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
.[ Her husband, who had been semi-retired even before the Nazi take-over, and had never involved himself in his wife's political activities][ (but was nevertheless professionally marginalised and in increasing danger because he was Jewish) arrived, using a tourist visa, only at the start of 1936, accompanied by her daughter in law, Dora and her baby grand daughter, Franziska.]
In Moscow Berta Lask worked as a journalist. Moscow, like Paris, had welcomed large numbers of refugees from Nazi Germany, forced to flee because of their politics, their race, or both. There were several German language news publications following the Communist Party line, notably the '' Deutsche Zentral-Zeitung'', published in Moscow by the German language section of the Comintern, and to which Lask contributed.[ She was also writing for "Zwei Welten" and for "Internationale Literatur" and contributing material to ]Radio Moscow
Radio Moscow ( rus, Pадио Москва, r=Radio Moskva), also known as Radio Moscow World Service, was the official international broadcasting station of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics until 1993. It was reorganized with a new name ...
.[ She published several books under the pseudonym "Gerhard Wieland".] It has been suggested that she used a pseudonym partly in order to protect her sons and her husband all of whom had initially remained in Germany when Berta had fled.[ At some point after 1936 Louis and Berta left Moscow and settled at ]Sevastopol
Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...
in Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
where the authorities were happy for Louis to continue his work as a physician until his death in May 1940.
Berta Lask was deprived of her German citizenship by the government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
in 1938.[ She received Soviet citizenship in 1940.][
Unlike their father, all three of the Lasks' sons had joined the German Communist Party by 1933.][ Of the three of them, the youngest, Ernst, stayed for a time in Berlin working "underground" for the Communist Party (which was now illegal). He was assigned to the party's "anti-militarist" department which was in effect a cover name for the German Communist Party's news service. He then fled, following his mother to Moscow, where he worked first for the Agriculture Institute and then for the International Economics and Politics Institute.][ However, at the end of June 1936, a month after his thirtieth birthday, Ernst died of tuberculosis in the First University Clinic in Moscow hospital.] The other two, Hermann and Ludwig, were arrested in 1938, when the political purges in Moscow were still at their height. The middle son, Hermann, was banned to Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near ...
in the north where he lived with his widowed mother between 1941 and 1944. He was eventually transferred to the Soviet " Labor army", and returned to what remained in Germany in 1948.[ The eldest son is sometimes identified in sources as Ludwig and sometimes as Lutz. Lutz, who had a degree in human economics (''"Volkswirtschaft"''), was working at the Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute in Moscow when he was arrested. His detention included eight years in a camp at Kolyma in the Far East. Like his brother Hermann, he survived his time in the ]Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, but he was only permitted to return to Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in 1953.[ After Lutz was arrested, his wife, Dora, keen to avoid getting caught up in Stalin's latest purge, left Moscow with their daughter Franziska.][ They crossed Europe and arrived in England towards the end of the summer of 1939.][ Having avoided imprisonment by the Soviets, in London Dora was identified as an ]enemy alien
In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...
and imprisoned in Holloway jail, and then "interned" on the Isle of Man. By the end of the war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
she had been released, and lived in England for the rest of her life: she died from kidney disease in 1952, the year before the Soviets were finally persuaded to release her husband.[
According to some sources, Berta Lask tried to return to Moscow from ]Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near ...
during the war in order to contribute to the struggle against Nazi Germany. In the end she appears to have returned to Moscow around the end of the war, possibly when her son was transferred from Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near ...
to the Soviet " Labor army". She then remained in Moscow till 1953. When she returned to the part of Germany which by this time had become the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), she was accompanied by her newly freed son, Lutz.[
]
German Democratic Republic
Berta Lask lived her final years in East Berlin where she continued to write and was able to finish the semi-autobiographical novel on which she had started work in 1938. It was published as "Stille und Sturm" in 1955. In 1958 she was honoured officially with the Patriotic Order of Merit
The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...
in silver.[ The equivalent award in gold followed in 1963.]Neues Deutschland
''Neues Deutschland'' (''nd''; en, New Germany, sometimes stylized in lowercase letters) is a left-wing German daily newspaper, headquartered in Berlin.
For 43 years it was the official party newspaper of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany ...
, 6 October 1963, p. 1 She was a member of the East German literary elite, and the country's powerful Party Central Committee offered public condolences when she died on 28 March 1967.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lask, Berta
1878 births
1967 deaths
People from Wadowice
People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany in the Soviet Union
Communist Party of Germany members
Socialist Unity Party of Germany members
German women journalists
German women novelists
German women writers
Proletarian literature
Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold
20th-century German women
East German writers
Austro-Hungarian emigrants to Germany