In his correspondence with Christian theologian Paul Tillich, Bertolt Brecht sought an ally in his plans to establish a Committee with fellow anti-Nazi Germans in exile. Paul Tillich would years later recall how hard Brecht had tried to convert him from his social-democratic position to the communist cause. Here, the German dramaturge speaks of the organizational difficulties in his growing Committee.
April 1944
Santa Monica, California
1063-26th Street
Dear Mr. Tillich,
All the men I was asked to contact struck me as extremely interesting. It’s just that everything takes time here, partly because of the long distances (and the petrol shortage) and partly because people are so busy. So far the following have accepted: Heinrich Mann, Fritz Kortner, Lion Feuchtwanger, Elisabeth Bergner, Paul Czinner, Professor Leopold Jessner, Berthold Viertel. Döblin, Horkheimer, and F. Lang asked for more discussion. Reichenback wants to consult the officers of his university, but he personally is absolutely in favor. He’ll be going on a lecture tour in the next few weeks and then he’ll speak to Einstein and others, who, he believes,will join, but will want to be informed through personal contact. Bruno Frank is very ill and can’t be disturbed. Dieterle is busy with a film, I hope to see him in the next few days. (And through him is the best way to approach Bassermann.) I hope you people in New York aren’t getting impatient, the interest here could not be greater, but each one of these VIPs is a small committee in himself, they all have to clarify their ideas and make up their minds, which as you know takes time, but they’ll get there in the end. But what matters most, it seems to me, is the mere fact that we exist, and that’s worth spending time on. I realize, though, that from the standpoint of the Protestants, who are the most important people to be reached, it is essential that the Council be set up quickly. But we already had a good many names and very good ones. (As I see it, just about all the names on the West Coast list will be available next week.)
What strikes me as most important now is a regularly issued circular letter to keep the members posted on the activities of the Committee.
There’s a particular interest here in supplying German POWs with anti-Nazi literature, and in possible broadcasting beamed to Germany.
But everything, I believe, depends on steadying our pace, on normalizing the infant organization’s breathing, which is bound to be rather spasmodic, and its reactions to outside impressions.
I look back with real pleasure on our discussions in New York. I took a most pleasant feeling ‘home’ with me.
Yours cordially,
Bertolt Brecht
FURTHER READING
For a particularly astute reading of Brecht’s A Reader for Those who Live In Cities, click here
Read here for a succinct biography of Brecht that contextualizes the above letter within his life’s work