Episode 30: From Moscow to Hollywood
In 1933, Lion Feuchtwanger wrote the first ever novel about the experience of Jews under Hitler. The book became a global sensation. When he finally received an offer in 1938 to adapt his most popular book for the screen in Stalin’s Russia, he jumped at the chance. The film was a success, but the decision would come to haunt him when he lived in California during the Red Scare.
The Lion Feuchtwanger Collection in the LBI Archives contains a small amount of original correspondence, manuscripts for a translation of Lysistrata, and an essay on the historical consciousness of the Jews. Lion Feuchtwanger also appears in the extensive papers of his brother Ludwig, which are held by the LBI Archives.
Learn more at lbi.org/feuchtwanger
Exile is a production of the Leo Baeck Institute, New York and Antica Productions. It’s narrated by Joshua Malina.
This episode was written by Joanne O’Sullivan.
Our executive producers are Laura Regehr and Stuart Coxe.
Our producer is Emily Morantz.
Research and translation by Isabella Kempf.
Voice acting by Gordon Hecht and Athena Karkanis.
Sound design and audio mix by Gaëtan Harris, with additional mixing by Philip Wilson.
Theme music by Oliver Wickham.
This episode of Exile is made possible in part by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which is supported by the German Federal Ministry of Finance and the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future.
