Becher, Ulrich

The early years

Ulrich Becher was born on January 2, 1910 in Berlin . He entered the University of Berlin , where he quickly determined his political orientation, joining the left-wing democratic forces, and repeatedly expressed disgust at the growing nationalism and militarism in German society. At the same time, his first aspirations for independent creativity are manifested: he is fond of painting and becomes a student of the famous artist Georg Gross . Becher draws close to people close to Gross, left-wing intelligentsia, including director Erwin Piskator , writer Max German-Neisse , artists John Hartfield and Max Pechstein , publishers Wiland Herzfelde and Ernst Rohvolt .

In 1928, Becher created one of his first literary works - the play "Nobody." It was written under the influence of the scandal surrounding George Gross, who was convicted of blasphemy for publishing the anti-war lithograph Christ in the Gas Mask. However, it was not possible to stage the play in Germany at that time. The premiere took place only in 1936 in Bern . Nevertheless, in 1932, Becher published a collection of short stories, “Men Make Mistakes.” In less than a year, this book was burned by the Nazis along with many other works of “degenerate writers”.

Life in exile

After the Nazis came to power, Becher could no longer remain in Germany : back in 1932, he participated in a battle with them at the University of Berlin . He subsequently wrote:

In 1933, on the night of the Reichstag’s arson, he left Germany to avoid the danger of arrest, being her youngest “degenerate writer” and the youngest member of the circle of Georg Gross.

Becher moves to Vienna , receives Austrian citizenship, but in 1938 , on the day of the Anschluss of Austria, he was forced to flee to Switzerland , where in 1936 his second book, the collection The Conquerors, was published.

But even here Becher could not stay for long: the threat of extradition to the German authorities is very close. Therefore, in the spring of 1941, he leaves Europe . With documents in a foreign name, he crosses Vichy France , Franco- Spain , Salazar Portugal and, finally, on a Spanish ship he gets to Brazil , where he lives first in Rio de Janeiro , and then on a remote farm in Selva. Three years later he moved to the United States , to New York . During the years of wandering, Becher mainly writes journalistic articles in anti-fascist publications in Switzerland , France , Argentina , Mexico and the USA .

Post-war activities

The rich experience gained over the years of emigration is actively implemented in the postwar years in the prosaic and dramatic works of Becher. He describes what he saw and experienced in Austria (the novel “At the Beginning of the Fifth”), Switzerland (the novel “Hunting the Groundhogs”), Brazil (the plays “Samba” and “Makumba”), the USA (the play “Fire Water”, “ New York Tales ”, the novel“ Profile ”). His works are imbued with an awareness of responsibility for the fate of mankind in the face of modern global threats, a denial of the illusory escape from solving pressing problems.

For the rest of his life, Becher remained an Austrian citizen, although most of the time he lived in Switzerland , settling in Basel .

• Men make mistakes ( Männer machen Fehler , collection of short stories, 1932).
• None ( Niemand , play, 1934).
• Conquerors ( Die Eroberer , collection of short stories, 1936).
• Karl Bockerer ( Der Bockerer , play, 1946, adaptation of Franz Antel in 1981 ).
• Reise zum blauen Tag (collection of poems, 1946).
• Nachtigall will zum Vater fliegen ( Collected Stories, 1950).
• Brasilianischer Romanzero (1950).
• At the beginning of the fifth ( Kurz nach 4 , novel, 1957, Russian edition. - 1971).
• Spiele der Zeit - Samba ( Samba ); Feuerwasser ( Fire Water ); Die Kleinen und die Großen (plays, 1957).
• The heart of the shark ( Das Herz des Hais , novel, 1960, Russian edition, 2004).
• Spiele der Zeit, Bd. 2 - Niemand ( Nobody ); Makumba ( Macumba ); Mademoiselle Löwenzom (plays, 1968).
• Marmot hunting ( Murmeljagd , novel, 1969, Russian edition - 1976).
• Profile ( Das Profil , novel, 1973).
• Former William Casino ( William's Ex-Casino , novel, 1973).
• SIFF Selektive Identifizierung von Freund und Feind ( Collected Essays, 1978).
• Franz Patenkindt (1979).
• Vom Unzulänglichen der Wirklichkeit ( Collected Stories, 1983).
• Abseits vom Rodeo (short story, 1991).

• Website about Ulrich Becher
• Ulrich Becher on the Internet Movie Database