A diary as a companion during his escape in 1936

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Postkarte (ohne Datum, vor 1945) der Straßenkreuzung Friedrich-Carl-Straße (nach links) und Preußische Straße (nach rechts, heute Mazurska) in Stettin
Photo credit:
Postcard (no date, before 1945) of the intersection of Friedrich-Carl-Straße (to the left) and Preußische Straße (to the right, today Mazurska) in Stettin. Herder-Institut, HI-Inv. 177454, Free access - no reuse
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Fritz Lamm describes his escape from the Nazi persecution of Jews from Stettin via Switzerland and Austria to Prague in his previously unpublished diary.


After a quarter of an hour in the warm waiting room [in the train station of Zell am See, Salzburger Land], the thick clumps of snow hanging off my trousers have still not melted. Tired and reluctant, and also hungry, I will soon head off again. [...] One must always be careful. Begging [sic!] is forbidden; I must not get into conflict with the police. 

Short biographical portrait

Fritz Lamm was born in 
Szczecin
deu. Stettin

Szczecin (German: Stettin) is a large city in northwestern Poland inhabited by nearly 403,000 people and the capital of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship (Polish: Zachodnio-Pomorskie). Szczecin is located on the Szczecin Lagoon and borders the German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Brandenburg. The city was part of Prussia for several centuries.

Szczecin in the Online Encyclopedia of the Culture and History of the Germans in Eastern Europe (German)
Szczecin at Google Maps
Historische Orte
Pommern
 
 in 1911. He came from a Jewish merchant family. As a youth, he became involved in the German-Jewish Wanderbund and in the socialist workers' movement. After the Reichstag fire, he was convicted of high treason and served a sentence of two years and three months in Naugard prison in 
Pomerania
deu. Pommern, pol. Pomorze

Pomerania is a region in northeastern Germany (Vorpommern) and northwestern Poland (Hinterpommern/Pomorze Tylne). The name is derived from the West Slavic 'by the sea' - 'po more/morze'. After the Thirty Years' War (Peace of Westphalia in 1648), Western Pomerania initially became Swedish, and Western Pomerania fell to Brandenburg, which was able to acquire further parts of Western Pomerania in 1720. It was not until 1815 that the entire region belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia as the Province of Pomerania. The province existed until the end of World War II, its capital was Szczecin (today Polish: Stettin).

Pommern in the Online Encyclopedia of the Culture and History of the Germans in Eastern Europe (German)
Pommern at Google Maps
. He was released in the fall of 1935, but continued to be observed by the police. In January 1936 he fled from Stettin via Switzerland, first to Austria, from there to 
Praha
deu. Prag, eng. Prague, lat. Praga, yid. pr'g, yid. prag, yid. פראג

Prague (population 2023: 1,384,732) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is located in the center of the urban area on the Vltava River. The first Prague Castle was probably built in the 9th century. In the 10th/11th centuries, Jews lived in two castle settlements alongside the local population. Prague was granted city rights at the beginning of the 1230s, the second of the two in 1257, followed by the Malá Strana in 1320, Hradčany as the castle town and the New Town (Nové Město) in 1348. From the very beginning, Prague was the residence of the Bohemian rulers, at the latest from the 12th century within the borders of the Holy Roman Empire. As an imperial city in the 14th century, Prague developed into one of the most important centers of the entire empire, and the first university in Central Europe was founded here in 1348. The four cities were united in 1784. Subsequently, especially in 1920, after the founding of Czechoslovakia in 1918, further towns were incorporated. Between 1938 and 1945, Prague became the capital of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, which was dependent on the German Reich. After the Allies defeated the Reich in 1945, Prague was once again the capital of - now socialist - Czechoslovakia until 1992. After the collapse of Czechoslovakia, Prague remained the capital of the Czech Republic and one of the most important cities in Central Europe.

Praha in the Online Encyclopedia of the Culture and History of the Germans in Eastern Europe (German)
Praha at Google Maps
, then to France. At the beginning of the war, Lamm – like many other Germans – was interned in France. He managed to escape from internment via Marseilles and Casablanca to Havana (Cuba). In 1948 he returned to Europe. In Stuttgart he became involved with the SPD and worked for the Stuttgarter Zeitung. He died in 1977.
Ausschnitt aus einem Stadtplan von Stettin (ca. 1933) mit der Friedrich-Carl-Straße (heute Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego). Die Straße schneidet den sternförmigen Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz (heute Plac Grunwaldzki) von Ost nach West. In der Hausnummer 24 lebte
Ausschnitt aus einem Stadtplan von Stettin (ca. 1933) mit der Friedrich-Carl-Straße (heute Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego). Die Straße schneidet den sternförmigen Kaiser-Wilhelm-Platz (heute Plac Grunwaldzki) von Ost nach West. In der Hausnummer 24 lebte
Detail from a map of Szczecin (ca. 1933) showing Friedrich Carl Street (today Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego). The Street intersects the star-shaped Kaiser Wilhelm Square (today Plac Grunwaldzki) from east to west. In the house number 24 lived Lamb 1932. Herder-Institut, Sign.: K9 VIII S27, Free access - no reuse
Detail from a map of Szczecin (ca. 1933) showing Friedrich Carl Street (today Marszałka Józefa Piłsudskiego). The Street intersects the star-shaped Kaiser Wilhelm Square (today Plac Grunwaldzki) from east to west. In the house number 24 lived Lamb 1932. Herder-Institut, Sign.: K9 VIII S27, Free access - no reuse

Historical background

Fritz Lamm's diary covers the first stage of his long escape from the National Socialists, namely the route from Stettin via Switzerland and Austria to Prague in early 1936. It provides an insight into the fears and violence endured by all those who were persecuted by the National Socialists. The diary as a source also reflects the 24-year-old author's need to document what he had experienced at all costs. The entries contain many detailed descriptions of the places he passed through and of people he met or who helped him. In Feldkirch, Austria, on January 18, 1936, he even records the purchase of the diary: „It occurs to me that I should keep a diary. There is still time to buy a notebook in a stationery store. I will go into the town. Above the castle, behind it, the huge mountains like opened up umbrellas, and above them, in the clear sky, the stars! | I bought you, little notebook“. He recapitulates the events prior to this in a longer connected entry. After that, there is a single entry for almost every day. All of the following quotations are from Lamb's diary in the period January-February 1936. The main part of Fritz Lamm's estate has been preserved in two parts, namely in the German National Library in Leipzig/Frankfurt am Main and in the Federal Archives in Berlin-Lichterfelde.

Just out of prison, briefly 'free' and then on the run

 
After his release from prison, Lamm experienced how the National Socialists used violence against his comrades in Stettin. These experiences spurred his decision to leave Germany:


I have only been ‘free’ for a little over 10 weeks. And already I have cause to fear again. On Monday evening the comrade who was my next colleague at work ’disappeared’. That decided it for me. On Monday evening I learned that the acquaintance, whom I unfortunately went to visit on Thursday as his house was being searched, had been in the hospital since Sunday morning with a crushed skull and suffering a nervous breakdown. That decided it for me. 

In mid-January 1936, Lamm manages to reach Lake Constance by train via Berlin and Stuttgart. There he crosses into Switzerland, but is arrested by the Swiss police and deported to Austria. From the Swiss-Austrian border, he makes his way to Vienna, often on foot, sometimes hitching a lift:
„After a quarter of an hour in the warm waiting room [at the train station in Zell am See, Salzburger Land], the thick clumps of snow hanging from my trousers have still not melted. Tired, reluctant, and hungry, I soon head off again. My hope is rewarded: there is more traffic on the road. But the few passing cars do not take me. Just beyond the village, you don’t have any luck. You have to go further out to get to the farmers in time, so I couldn't stay long in Zell. You always have to be careful. Begging [sic!] is forbidden; I must not get into conflict with the police.“

The refugee issue and bureaucracy

After several days, Lamm reached Vienna. Here he inquired as to what possibilities there were for him to settle his residency status. The diary entry refers, among other things, to the ongoing discussions within the League of Nations („in Geneva“). During the 1920s and 1930s, because of numerous conflicts, the refugee issue was a permanent topic of the League of Nations. At the same time, the entry gives an impression of how a refugee perceived the wheels of bureaucracy in 1936:
  
„I'll go to the lawyer. [...] But there is nothing to be done. There has still been no result in Geneva on the refugee issue. I could be officially declared a stateless person and then get a stateless passport. But what for? Then you need a visa for every country and never get one. Then I'd rather stay a German citizen. | [fol. 356, re] But the German consul will just tell me to go home and get a passport. If I approach the Austrian police for a residence permit, they will take even more notice of me – and at the same time be forced to take a stand. Otherwise, they can tolerate and overlook me. And work permits are impossible to get. But this the same everywhere. | He thinks the Czech Republic is just as unfavorable. It would probably be easier to stay in Austria. But how? This all goes beyond the limits of legal advice.“
In Vienna, Lamm managed to establish contact with Prague. There Lamm hoped to be better able to earn his own living. Since Lamm did not have a passport, he was advised in Vienna to cross the Austrian-Czechoslovakian border at an unguarded point.

Reconstruction of the border crossing into Czechoslovakia

Versuch einer ungefähren Rekonstruktion von Lamms Grenzübertritt von Österreich in die Tschechoslowakei. Rot markiert sind der Ort Berg, der Verlauf der Grenze und der ungefähre Ort von Lamms Grenzübertritt (rotes Dreieck). (Speciální mapa Československ
Versuch einer ungefähren Rekonstruktion von Lamms Grenzübertritt von Österreich in die Tschechoslowakei. Rot markiert sind der Ort Berg, der Verlauf der Grenze und der ungefähre Ort von Lamms Grenzübertritt (rotes Dreieck). (Speciální mapa Československ
Attempt at an approximate reconstruction of Lamb's border crossing from Austria to Czechoslovakia. Red the place Berg, the course of the border and the approximate place of Lamb's border crossing (red triangle) are marked. (Speciální mapa Československa = Special map of Czechoslovakia, sheet 4758, 1930, detail). Herder-Institut, HI-Sign.: K 22 II L 61, Free access - no reuse
Attempt at an approximate reconstruction of Lamb's border crossing from Austria to Czechoslovakia. Red the place Berg, the course of the border and the approximate place of Lamb's border crossing (red triangle) are marked. (Speciální mapa Československa = Special map of Czechoslovakia, sheet 4758, 1930, detail). Herder-Institut, HI-Sign.: K 22 II L 61, Free access - no reuse

Secret paths along the Austrian-Czechoslovakian border

 
The description of the border crossing contrasts with the previous entries about bureaucratic hurdles. In the face of bureaucracy, one recognizes the helplessness in Lamm's diary entry. In his entry describing the surreptitious border-crossing, on the other hand, there is a palpable sense of relief at having managed this venture, probably also because he had experienced a setback at the German-Swiss border a few weeks earlier. There he had been arrested by the Swiss police and then deported to Austria. He describes how, assisted by a local expert, he crosses the border into Czechoslovakia, giving numerous details about the terrain:


I get off the train in Berg, where the road leads to Pressburg [Bratislava]. The Austrian customs house is there. Next to it is the Czech one. And the Bratislava streetcar is next to that. I walk in the direction of Berg. After about 250 steps, I have already reached a place I should only be after 600. [...] It is an open field. But very dark. | [...] There where the poplars stand – that’s the border. But it takes a long time until it's our turn. Then he explains to me. I have to get on the road about 500 or 600m behind the Czech border house. [...] Continue on your own. Quickly over the path with the poplars, the border. I have already sneaked out of Austria. But now I’m sneaking into Czecho-Slovakia. 

After Lamm has recorded his border crossing in the diary, he describes his arrival in Prague in just a few sentences. After that, the diary ends. Letters and other sources provide information about the further course of his emigration, which led him to Cuba. With regard to this further journey to Central America, the diary documents only the first, relatively short, section of his escape from the National Socialists. The research works by Benz 2007 and Kopp 2020, among others, provide an insight into the further stages of his emigration.
Sources:
Federal Archive Berlin, N/2162, Fritz Lamm
Map material of the Herder Institute  
Editing:
 
Text: Christian Lotz
Research and Editing: Thomas Klemm
Map mounting: Laura Gockert
This article is part of the series: „Forced migration: people and their escape routes“
Christian Lotz
Go to author biography

Literature
  • Benz, Michael: Der unbequeme Streiter Fritz Lamm. Jude, Linkssozialist, Emigrant 1911 - 1977 ; eine politische Biographie. Essen 2007.
  • Kopp, Heinz: Fritz Lamm. Ein unermüdlicher und unbequemer Streiter. Naturfreund - Freidenker - Marxist. Norderstest 2020.

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