The Devil in France

Michaela Ullmann Exile Studies Librarian, USC Libraries

Background

The Feuchtwanger Memorial Library (FML) houses library and papers of celebrated German-Jewish novelist Lion Feuchtwanger and other important German-speaking exiles who found a safe haven in Los Angeles after fleeing Nazi Germany

USC also holds the rights to Feuchtwanger’s works

Over the past years, USC has acquired an extensive book collection focusing on Holocaust studies

The Holocaust collection and the USC Shoah Visual Archive make USC an increasingly important institution for the study of the Holocaust

LibGuides:Feuchtwanger Memorial Library: http://libguides.usc.edu/feuchtwanger USC Shoah Visual Archive: http://libguides.usc.edu/vha Holocaust Studies: http://libguides.usc.edu/holocaust

Challenges

Promoting collections of primary sources

Promoting collections in languages other than English, namely German (without an existing German department on campus)

Aligning the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library with the focus on Holocaust studies

Increase awareness and access to the collections housed in FML

The making of The Devil in France

Scanning of the original text

Correction of misspellings/errors in the text of the existing 1940 edition

Creation of additional content to supplement the edition and make it more accessible to students (introduction by the Dean of the Libraries, map, timeline, essay by Marta Feuchtwanger)

Design of the layout and cover in a contemporary way that appeals to students (including images created by USC students), for both, a print and a digital edition

The cover of our The Devil in France publication

Promotion / Outreach I

Collaboration with Office of Student Affairs

Office of Student Affairs agreed to help promote the book to all incoming students at USC

Featured The Devil in France in the recommended readings on their website

Invited us to their introductory sessions for residential ambassadors

Provided a table at their fairs for incoming students

Books were provided at several USC University Park Campus libraries where students could pick up them up at the circulation desk of eleven libraries on campus

Promotion / Outreach II

Collaboration with Vision and Voices

USC has a university-wide arts and humanities initiative called Vision and Voices A grant from Vision and Voices allowed us to create two events in conjunction with the publication of The Devil in France

First event:Enemy Number One": Lion Feuchtwanger and the Literature of Exile, a panel discussion about censorship, political repression, and writing in exile in honor of Banned Books Week

Second event: Enemy Number One": A Tour and Performance at the Villa Aurora, a tour to Feuchtwanger’s former home in Pacific Palisades, where a reading from letters between Lion and his wife Marta Feuchtwanger from the 1930s and 1940s would be performed. Participants also went on a tour of the house and had the chance to browse items exhibited from the archive

Both events were featured on the USC Libraries and Vision and Voices websites and on flyers, as well as in articles published in the USC News, USC Libraries’ Libwire, and the USC Chronicle

Students browse a special exhibition of materials related to the Feuchtwangers' lives. Photo by Rachelle Balinas Smith

Curt Lowens and Nina Franoszek perform a dramatized exchange of letters between Lion and Marta Feuchtwanger during Lion's imprisonment in Nazi-occupied France. Photo by Rachelle Balinas Smith

Promotion / Outreach III

Distribution off Campus

The Devil in France publications were send to colleagues and relevant institutions at other libraries/institutions

As of March 8, 2013, Worlcat showed 86 copies of our publication in libraries: 16 copies in California libraries65 copies in US libraries outside of California1 copy in Taiwan1 copy in Hong Kong3 copies in Canada

Instruction

Even after initial outreach activities, The Devil in France remains popular at USC

The publication is regularly introduced in Holocaust classes as well as in general instruction sessions for Special Collections

Professors use the book in their Holocaust classes

Radom surveys show that students at USC are familiar with Feuchtwanger’s memoir The Devil in France

In some cases, reading The Devil in France led students to ask their grandparents about their experiences during WWII

Conclusion

Going into it, we underestimated the time & work involved

Overall, the project was a great success and we still benefit from it since we still provide copies of the Devil in France at several locations on campus and during instruction session

Through this project and other initiatives, the awareness of the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library has been increased among our students

The Devil in France was the perfect tool to educated students about Lion Feuchtwanger and our collections and to create a bridge from Holocaust studies to Exile studies

More and more students inquire about writing papers on Feuchtwanger and the German-speaking exile experience

This year, a USC student will present a paper about Feuchtwanger’s political speeches and essays at the conference of the International Feuchtwanger Society in Berlin, Germany. He does not speak or read any German…

Thank you!

Read the Devil in France:http://sait.usc.edu/orientation/media/Publications/DevilinFranceLibrary.pdf

Contact:Michaela Ullmannullmann@usc.edu