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News from the exile collections

Ausschnitt der illustrierten Titelseite des London Diary von Lili Cassel. Ein zeichnendes Mädchen sitzt zwischen Wolken vermutlich auf einem Sperrballon zur Abwehr von Luftangriffen. Die Illustrationen sind mit Tusche und Wasserfarben gemalt.

Hellmut Stern (1928-2020) - In memoriam

Hellmut Stern (1928-2020) Hellmut Stern (1928-2020)

On 21 March, violinist Hellmut Stern died in Berlin at the age of 91. Hellmut Stern was one of the contemporary witnesses interviewed by the German Exile Archive and the broadcast journalist Jochanan Shelliem between April 2013 and August 2014 regarding their flight from National Socialist Germany and their experience of exile.

Hellmut Stern was born in 1928 in Berlin and came from a musical family. In 1938, at the age of 10, he emigrated with his parents to Harbin in Northern China. In the Japanese-occupied city, the family spent 11 years living in great poverty. Nevertheless, Hellmut Stern received private violin tuition. He began performing in public from 1942, played at weddings and cafés, and thereby also helped to feed his family. In 1949, the family managed to emigrate to Israel. Stern went to the USA in 1956 and returned to Germany in 1961. There, he became a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker for 34 years.

During his interview with the German Exile Archive in September 2013, one of the things Hellmut Stern recalled was the extreme cold that dominated the winters in Harbin and cast a great shadow over his 11 years in exile. His haunting recollections can be heard as an audio exhibit on the topic of “everyday life in exile” as part of the permanent exhibition “Exile. Experience and Testimony”.

As an important contemporary account, the complete interview with Hellmut Stern has also been included in the special exhibition “Voices of Exile” on the virtual platform “Arts in Exile”. In this personal interview, listeners can hear how the young man living in exile grew into a successful artist.

Photo: © Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation, Hellmut Stern collection

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Content

  1. Ruth Weiss (1924 – 2025) – In memoriam
  2. Dr. Vincent C. Frank Steiner (1930–2025) – In memoriam
  3. Hans Günter Flieg (1923–2024) – in memoriam
  4. Dr. Ruth K. Westheimer (1928–2024) – in memoriam
  5. Guy Stern (1922–2023) – in memoriam
  6. Trude Simonsohn (1921-2022) – in memoriam
  7. “Child Emigration from Frankfurt am Main. Stories of rescue, loss and remembrance”
  8. Questionnaires as a source for researching German-speaking exile – using Alfred Kantorowicz as an example
  9. Professor Dr. John M. Spalek (1928-2021) in memoriam
  10. Lieselotte Maas (1937-2020) – In memoriam
  11. Ruth Klüger (1931-2020) – in memoriam
  12. "What should I cook?" Recipes from the German Exile Archive 1933-1945
  13. Hellmut Stern (1928-2020) - In memoriam
  14. Thomas Mann: German listeners! – listening station on the topic of exile outside our Frankfurt building
  15. Publication of exhibition catalogue “Exile. Experience and Testimony”
  16. Focusing on the topic of exile – the history magazine "Damals" ("Yesteryear") is published in collaboration with the German Exile Archive 1933–1945
  17. Dora Schindel (1915–2018) – In memoriam
  18. Werner Berthold (1921–2017) – In memoriam
  19. Rolf Kralovitz (1925 - 2015) – In memoriam
  20. Buddy Elias – In memoriam
  21. Arts in Exile – virtual exhibition and network
  22. Brigitte Kralovitz-Meckauer (1925–2014) – in memoriam
  23. Ludwig Werner Kahn - 100th birthday
  24. Goethe Medal and honorary membership of the Gesellschaft für Exilforschung e.V. awarded to Professor John M. Spalek
  25. "Nestor of German finance" - Fritz Neumark's 110th birthday
  26. Book donation for the German National Library
  27. "A prisoner of Stalin and Hitler" - 20 years since the death of Margarete Buber-Neumann
  28. The founder of futurology – the 100th birthday of Ossip K. Flechtheim
  29. On the death of lyricist Emma Kann
  30. Nestor of exile research 1933–1945 in the USA - the 80th birthday of Prof. Dr. John M. Spalek
  31. Pre-mortem legacy of politologist John G. Stoessinger in the German Exile Archive 1933-1945
  32. Lili Cassel Wronker: A London Diary, 1939-1940
  33. Chronicler of her century – 90th birthday of Anja Lundholm
  34. Reichsausbürgerungskartei
  35. Hans Gustav Güterbock
  36. Geneviève Pitot: The Mauritian-Shekel

Last changes: 11.09.2025

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