Hans Keilson
Encyclopedia
Hans Alex Keilson (ˈhɑns ˈkɛilsɔn; 12 December 1909 – 31 May 2011) was a Jewish German
/Dutch
novelist, poet, psychoanalyst, and child psychologist. He was best known for his novels set during the Second World War, during which he was an active member of the Dutch resistance.
Keilson, having worked with traumatized orphans, mainly wrote about traumas induced by the war. His first novel was published in 1934, but most of his works were published after the war. In 2010, The New York Times
's Francine Prose
described Keilson as "one of the world's greatest writers", notably honouring Keilson's achievements in the year in which he turned 101 years old.
in Berlin
, but due to the Nazi law prohibiting Jews from employment, Keilson was employed as a professional gym teacher to Jewish private schools, and occasionally made money as a musician. During this period, Keilson also met his first wife, graphologist Gertud Manz (1901).
In 1936, the couple went into exile
and fled to the Netherlands
. During his time here, Keilson wrote a few books in Dutch language, crediting himself under the pseudonym
Benjamin Cooper.
, taking on a new identity as physician Dr. Van der Linden. During this time, the Dutch resistance asked him to pay visits to Jewish children that had been separated from their parents after they had gone into hiding. These experiences in particular formed the main inspiration for Keilson's later works.
Keilson reunited with his wife and daughter after the war. He and Gertrud were unable to marry before the war. In Germany they couldn't marry because of Keilson's Jewish origins. In the Netherlands it was not possible to marry for the Dutch law as German citizens. And so, when the war was over they married within the Liberal Jewish Community of Amsterdam. After the war Gertrud had to explain to the Dutch neighbours that her husband was indeed German, but also Jewish, to avoid further consequenses.
Keilson had to requalify for his physician's license, should he want to work in the Netherlands, and did so. He specialized as a psychiatrist and a psychoanalyticus. In 1969, Gertrud died.
During the war, Keilson's parents were deported to Auschwitz, where both died. In later interviews Keilson expressed deep regret for being unable to save his parents.
Marita Lauritz (1935), 25 years his junior. Marita gave birth to his, and her, second daughter, Bloeme, in 1974. He published several more works and received little media attention. On his special birthday anniversaries, such as his 70th, 80th and 90th birthday, Dutch media would do interviews with him.
's Francine Prose
described Keilson as "one of the world's greatest writers". Much media attention, in both the United States
and his native Netherlands
, was given to the fact that Keilson received this acknowledgement at the age of 100. Keilson was invited to Dutch talkshow De Wereld Draait Door ("The World Keeps Spinning"), where he was interviewed by presenter Matthijs van Nieuwkerk
. Many more articles and interviews would appear in the year following, world-wide. "Der Tod des Widersachers" ("The Death of the Adversary") has been translated in 20 languages.
He died on May 31, 2011 in Hilversum, the Netherlands at the age of 101.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
/Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
novelist, poet, psychoanalyst, and child psychologist. He was best known for his novels set during the Second World War, during which he was an active member of the Dutch resistance.
Keilson, having worked with traumatized orphans, mainly wrote about traumas induced by the war. His first novel was published in 1934, but most of his works were published after the war. In 2010, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
's Francine Prose
Francine Prose
Francine Prose is an American writer. Since March 2007 she has been the president of PEN American Center. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1968 and received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1991....
described Keilson as "one of the world's greatest writers", notably honouring Keilson's achievements in the year in which he turned 101 years old.
1928–40: Exile
From 1928 to 1934, Keilson studied pharmacologyPharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, but due to the Nazi law prohibiting Jews from employment, Keilson was employed as a professional gym teacher to Jewish private schools, and occasionally made money as a musician. During this period, Keilson also met his first wife, graphologist Gertud Manz (1901).
In 1936, the couple went into exile
Exile
Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...
and fled to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. During his time here, Keilson wrote a few books in Dutch language, crediting himself under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Benjamin Cooper.
1941–69: WWII and aftermath
In 1941, Keilson went into hiding and had to leave his pregnant wife behind. His wife gave birth to a daughter, Barbara, in the same year; she pretended the girl's father was a German officer to prevent prosecution. Meanwhile, Keilson had moved in with a married couple in DelftDelft
Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....
, taking on a new identity as physician Dr. Van der Linden. During this time, the Dutch resistance asked him to pay visits to Jewish children that had been separated from their parents after they had gone into hiding. These experiences in particular formed the main inspiration for Keilson's later works.
Keilson reunited with his wife and daughter after the war. He and Gertrud were unable to marry before the war. In Germany they couldn't marry because of Keilson's Jewish origins. In the Netherlands it was not possible to marry for the Dutch law as German citizens. And so, when the war was over they married within the Liberal Jewish Community of Amsterdam. After the war Gertrud had to explain to the Dutch neighbours that her husband was indeed German, but also Jewish, to avoid further consequenses.
Keilson had to requalify for his physician's license, should he want to work in the Netherlands, and did so. He specialized as a psychiatrist and a psychoanalyticus. In 1969, Gertrud died.
During the war, Keilson's parents were deported to Auschwitz, where both died. In later interviews Keilson expressed deep regret for being unable to save his parents.
1970–2009: Second marriage
In 1970 Keilson married literature historianHistorian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
Marita Lauritz (1935), 25 years his junior. Marita gave birth to his, and her, second daughter, Bloeme, in 1974. He published several more works and received little media attention. On his special birthday anniversaries, such as his 70th, 80th and 90th birthday, Dutch media would do interviews with him.
2010–11: Media attention
In 2010, The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
's Francine Prose
Francine Prose
Francine Prose is an American writer. Since March 2007 she has been the president of PEN American Center. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1968 and received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1991....
described Keilson as "one of the world's greatest writers". Much media attention, in both the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and his native Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, was given to the fact that Keilson received this acknowledgement at the age of 100. Keilson was invited to Dutch talkshow De Wereld Draait Door ("The World Keeps Spinning"), where he was interviewed by presenter Matthijs van Nieuwkerk
Matthijs van Nieuwkerk
Matthijs van Nieuwkerk is a Dutch journalist and television presenter.-Biography:Matthijs van Nieuwkerk was born on September 8, 1960 in Amsterdam in the Netherlands....
. Many more articles and interviews would appear in the year following, world-wide. "Der Tod des Widersachers" ("The Death of the Adversary") has been translated in 20 languages.
He died on May 31, 2011 in Hilversum, the Netherlands at the age of 101.
Publications
- The Death of the Adversary [novel; translation of Der Tod des Widersachers: Roman]. 2010.
- Comedy in a Minor Key [novel; translation of Komödie in Moll]. 2010.
- Hans Keilson (100) Frankfurt am Main: Fischer. 2009.
- Werke, Bd. 2 / Gedichte und Essays. 2005.
- Werke, Bd. 1 / Romane und Erzaehlungen. 2005.
- Sequentielle Traumatisierung bei Kindern: Untersuchung zum Schicksal jüdischer Kriegswaisen. Psychosozial-Verlag. 2005. (English translation: Sequential Traumatisation in Children. A clinical and statistical follow-up study on the fate of the Jewish war orphans in the Netherlands. The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem. 1992. ISBN 965-223-806-6)
- Probleme in der sexuellen Erziehung Essen: Neue Deutsche Schule Verlagsgesellschaft. 1966.
Secondary materials
- Anon. "Fresh Ink," "Books," San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate, August 8, 2010: F8.
- Kirsch, Adam. "Bearing Witness: A reissued novel and a newly translated novella offer a reintroduction to the 100-year-old Hans Keilson," Tablet http://www.tabletmag.com/arts-and-culture/books/41363/bearing-witness/. Aug 3, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
- Das Münchener Abkommen und die Intellektuellen: Literatur und Exil in Frankreich zwischen Krise und Krieg edited by Martine Boyer-Weinmann et al. Tuebingen: Narr. 2008.[Keilson discusses his exile.]
- "Gedenk und vergiß – im Abschaum der Geschichte ..." : Trauma und Erinnern ; Hans Keilson zu Ehren ; Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber. – Tübingen : edition diskord. 2001.
- Juelich, Dierk (ed.). Geschichte als Trauma. Festschrift für Hans Keilson zu seinem 80. Geburtstag. Gießen: Psychosozial-Verlag. 1989.
- Roland Kaufhold: Neue Werke von Hans Keilson „Kein Plädoyer für eine Luftschaukel“ in haGalil
- Roland Kaufhold: "Das Leben geht weiter". Hans Keilson, ein jüdischer Psychoanalytiker, Schriftsteller, Pädagoge und Musiker
- Roland Kaufhold (2008): Das Leben geht weiter. Hans Keilson, ein jüdischer Psychoanalytiker, Schriftsteller, Pädagoge und Musiker, in: Zeitschrift für psychoanalytische Theorie und Praxis (ZPTP), Heft 1/2-2008, pp. 142–167. online
- Hans-Jürgen Balmes (Hg.) e.a.: Hans Keilson 100 in: Neue Rundschau 2009/4; pp. Fischer, Frankfurt 2009
- Roland Kaufhold (2009): Hans Keilson wird 100. Schriftsteller, Traumatherapeut, Psychoanalytiker, in: Tribüne H. 192, 4/2009, pp. 10–13
- Roland Kaufhold (2010): Keine Spuren mehr im Rauchfang der Lüfte – sprachloser Himmel. Hans Keilson wird 100, in: Kinderanalyse, 1/2010 17. Jg., pp. 94–109.
- Heinrich Detering: Ein verborgener Erzähler : Der Schriftsteller und Psychoanalytiker Hans Keilson feiert heute seinen Hundertsten, in: FAZ, 12. Dezember 2009, Seite 36
- Roland Kaufhold (2009): Weiterleben – biografische Kontinuität im Exil. Hans Keilson wird 100, in: psychosozial Nr. 118 (4/2009). pp. 119–131.