Gertrud Kolmar Collection 1867-1965

Abstract

This collection is comprised mainly of typescript drafts of a collection of correspondence between Kolmar and Hilde Wenzel, along with some original and photocopied correspondence and family documents.The poet Gertrud Kolmar was born 1894 as Gertrud Chodziesner in Berlin. She was raised in an assimilated Jewish family in the Charlottenburg district and was a cousin of Walter Benjamin. She attended private schools and received a certificate in English and French. She worked in various capacities as a translator, interpretor, teacher and secretary.Chodziesner's poetic career as Gertrud Kolmar began in 1917 with the publication of her first volume of poems, for which she assumed the pseudonym Kolmar, the German name for the Polish city of Chodzies, from which her surname was derived. She continued to publish regularly until 1938. After that time, further publication became impossible because of the political circumstances in Germany. She was eventually deported to Auschwitz where she was executed, likely in 1943.The original German-language inventories are available in folder 1.digitize