Reframing Antifascism: Memory, Genre and the Life Writings of Greta Kuckhoff

298 Pages·2013·6.2 MB·English

by  Joanne Sayner (auth.)

REFRAMING
ANTIFASCISM
MEMORY, GENRE AND
THE LIFE WRITINGS OF
GRETA KUCKHOFF
JOANNE SAYNER
Reframing Antifascism
AlsobyJoanneSayner
WOMENWITHOUTAPAST?GermanAutobiographicalWritingsandFascism
Reframing Antifascism
Memory, Genre and the Life Writings
of Greta Kuckhoff
Joanne Sayner
SeniorLecturerinCulturalTheoryandGermanStudies,
UniversityofBirmingham
©JoanneSayner2013
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-0-230-36875-0
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Sayner,Joanne.
Reframingantifascism:memory,genreandthelifewritingsofGreta
Kuckhoff/JoanneSayner.
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Summary:“GretaKuckhoffbelongedtotheanti-Naziresistancegroup
‘TheRedOrchestra’andwascondemnedtodeathin1943.Her
sentencewaslatercommutedtoimprisonmentandshewasliberated
bytheRedArmyin1945.Shespentthenextthirtyyearsworkingto
commemoratethegroup’santifascistresistance.Throughradio
broadcasts,letters,exhibitions,journalarticles,film,and
autobiography,shefoughtagainstColdWarnarrativeswhich
condemnedthegroupastraitorsorhailedthemasSovietspies.
Usingpreviouslyunpublishedarchivalsources,thisbooktracesthe
fascinatinglifewritingsofthiskeyfigurefromtheGDR.Itdraws
attentiontogenderedpoliticsofremembering,totheroleofmemories
oftheHolocaust,andtothepoliticalidentitiesofferedbythese
diverseformsofcommemoration.Indoingso,itprovocativelyintervenes
inthecontentiousdebatesaboutrememberingantifascism
incontemporaryGermany”—Providedbypublisher.
1. Kuckhoff,Greta,1902–1981. 2. RoteKapelle(Resistancegroup)
3. Anti-Nazi movement—Biography. 4. Germany (East)—Biography.
I. Title.
DD247.K83S282013
940.53’43092—dc23
[B] 2013021789
For Adam
Contents
ListofIllustrations ix
Acknowledgements x
Abbreviations xii
Introduction:MemoriesofResistance 1
GretaKuckhoff’slifeeventsandthe‘RedOrchestra’ 4
Memorygenresandmemorymedia:Anoutlineofthechapters 8
Theoreticalframes 16
1 ‘TheRadioTodayIsOurHistory’:GretaKuckhoff’sRadio
BroadcastsandSpeeches 25
Returningtoremember:CommemoratingAdamKuckhoff 27
Commentaryoftheday 30
Voicingantifascism 40
Womenandtheeconomy 44
Imaginingthecommunity 51
2 FashioningtheSelfandtheRecipientinLetters:Kuckhoff’s
Correspondence 56
HistorywritingandtheColdWar 59
TheinvolvementoftheStasi 70
Apastdividedandshared 73
Lettersaspoliticalpedagogy 79
3 Exhibitingthe‘RedOrchestra’ 83
MuseumofGermanhistoryandHouseofMinistries 84
CommemoratingAdamKuckhoffinHalle-Wittenberg 88
EinStückWirklichkeitmehr 92
Travellingmemories 107
Amarginalbutinsightfulform? 112
4 FromEinheittoDieWeltbühne:Kuckhoff’sJournalArticles
onResistance 115
NeuesDeutschland–TäglicheRundschau–Einheit 115
Aufbau–DieWeltbühne 121
CharacterizingDieWeltbühne 125
WritingforDieWeltbühneunderBudzislawski’seditorship 130
Dialogueanddogma 144
vii
viii Contents
5 AFilmwithoutaProtagonist?KLKanPTX:DieRoteKapelle 147
Televisingresistance 149
DEFA’stakeonthe‘RedOrchestra’ 154
RepresentingGretaKuckhoff 168
(Re)Televisingthe‘RedOrchestra’ 172
Thepoweroftheimage 175
6 FromtheRosarytotheNightingale:MemoryasPublished
andUnpublishedAutobiography 178
VomRosenkranzzurRotenKapelle:CommentsontheManuscript
ofComradeGretaKuckhoff 180
‘Whenpeoplecallmea“Schriftsteller”IgetrathershysinceI
thoughtIwasagoodeconomist’ 192
Theunpublishedautobiography 194
Dialoguewithagranddaughter 210
Thepoliticsof(auto)biography 211
Conclusion:GenreandMemory–RepetitionasaWayof
Knowing 214
Antifascistidentifications 215
Writinghistories 216
RememberingGretaKuckhoff 217
Reframingantifascism 225
Notes 229
SelectBibliography 270
Index 280
Illustrations
1 AdamKuckhoff’slastletterstohissons.Reprintedin:
Kuckhoff,G.(ed.)(1946)AdamKuckhoffzumGedenken:
Novellen.Gedichte.Briefe(Berlin:Aufbau) 2
2 AdamandGretaKuckhoff(right)withfamilyandfriends,
1937.Gretahasnoted,‘Uleistschondabei’[Uleisalready
there.]BArchN2506BILD71 5
3 GretaKuckhoffwithUle.BArchN2506BILD70 5
4 GretaKuckhoffattheGermanEconomicCommission.BArch
N2506BILD6 50
5 DraftoflettertoWalterUlbricht.BArchN2506/58 65
6 CataloguefortheAdamKuckhoffexhibition 95
7 OpeningoftheAdamKuckhoffexhibitionattheNational
LibraryinBerlin,1968.BArchN2506BILD2 96
8 Photographsfromexhibitioncatalogue 97
9 HaraldPoelchau,KuckhoffandUleatPlötzensee.BArch
N2506BILD19 98
10 KuckhoffatthepreviewofKLKanPTX:DieRoteKapelleatthe
MuseumofGermanHistoryon25March1971withBarbara
Adolf(left),whoplayedherinthefilm,andErichMielke
(right).BArch,BILD183-K0325-0043-001/photographer:
JoachimSpremberg 169
11 PortraitofGretaKuckhoff.BArchN2506BILD6 193
ix
Acknowledgements
When I began working in the Federal Archives in Berlin in January 2008,
Greta Kuckhoff’s papers were only partially catalogued. The extent of the
information contained in the 11 metres of papers only gradually became
clearasIstudieditoverthecomingmonths.Thanksmustthereforego,first
andforemost,toarchivistUlfRathje,forhisexceptionalpatience,hismetic-
ulous work and his willingness to share his enthusiasm and his knowledge
over the past four years. During this time I have also been lucky to enjoy
theinstitutionalsupportofstudyleavefromtheUniversityofBirmingham,
a grant from the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst and an early
careerfellowshipfromtheArtsandHumanitiesResearchCouncil.Theyears
ofarchivalworkandwritingwhichfollowedcouldnothavebeencompleted
withoutthem.ThankstotheanonymousreviewersoftheDAAD,AHRCand
atPalgraveMacmillan.
ThebreadthofKuckhoff’sworkindifferentgenresandmediaalsoneces-
sitatedworkinseveralotherarchives,whereIwasalwaysmetwithfriendly
and efficient staff who seemed genuinely interested in what I was trying
to do. Thanks to those at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, the staff at
theDeutschesRundfunkarchiv,Babelsberg,andtheFilmarchivinPotsdam.
More recently, Gerda Vollmer helped me to navigate my way through the
Stasi files at the BStU, Berlin, and Helen Thein gave invaluable support
at the library of the Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung in Potsdam by
helpingmetoexploretheuncataloguedpapersofDieWeltbühne.Thanksto
Hans-GeorgGolz,whowasgenerouswithhistimeandhisknowledgeabout
DEBRIG.GeraldWiemersprovidedfascinatinginsightsabouthisworkwith
Greta Kuckhoff and Hans Coppi kindly gave permission for me to quote
fromoneofhisspeeches.
As I was working on this book, I published several articles. These have
all been substantially reworked and expanded for the current text, but
I acknowledge with thanks the publishers and editors of the following:
‘The Personal and the Political: Remembering Adam Kuckhoff, Remem-
bering Resistance’, in C. Hähnel (ed.), Antifaschismus Revisited: Geschichte-
Ideologie-Erinnerung, Special issue Zeitschrift der Auschwitz-Stiftung Brüssel,
104, 2009, 122–36; ‘The Organic Intellectual: The Public and Political
Impact of Greta Kuckhoff 1945–1949’, in R. Braun and L. Marvyn (eds),
Cultural Impact: Theoretical and Practical Issues of Reception in the German-
Speaking World (Rochester, New York: Camden House, 2010), pp. 227–42;
‘Living Antifascism: Greta Kuckhoff’s Writings in Die Weltbühne’, in
M. Nehru and S. Jones (eds), Writing under Socialism (Nottingham: Critical,
x