Memories from the 20th Century

These “Memories from the 20^th century” are a unique document, an autobiographical collection of chapters of the life of a young German emigre who escaped with his parents to the USA. Being the adopted son of the later famous mathematician and political activist Emil Julius Gumbel (1891–1966), married to Marie Louise von Czettritz, the author describes the circumstances of their life, first in Heidelberg, where the family was attacked by Nazis already before 1933, their life in France during the first exile, the dramatic way out in 1940, and their settlement in the USA. The memoirs of the end of the Weimar Republic and the years in exile are written from the perspective of a growing boy aged 12 to 20. In the second part, the author describes his way in the USA, his study, his professional career as an engineer, and his own family life.

Edited by Lexuri Fernández, Matthias Scherer, Annette Vogt