Wolf Suschitzky and Libris bookshop

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Talk  by Julia Winckler on Wolfgang Suschitzky – life and photography. Father founded a social-democratic bookshop in Vienna. His sister, Edith Tudor-Hart, was a photographer too. She died at the age of 64, whereas Wolf was 104 when he died. Edith was also involved in recruiting Soviet spies, including the Cambridge Spy ring, and eventually photographed less as she was constantly being followed by MI5.

Wolfgang went to London in 1934 but could not earn anything from photography till 1938, when he was given a work permit.

There used to be a big German-language bookshop somewhere in north London (Boundary Road), called Libris. Unfortunately I never went there. It apparently closed in 1971. I did not realize it was founded by relations of the photographer Wolfgang Suschitzky, Joseph and Wilhelm Suschitzky.

‘German books in seven rooms’: memoirs of Libris (London) Ltd, 1945–71

Also of interest:

A Safe Haven Full of Contradictions: German-speaking Jews and Their New Lives in the United Kingdom, by Andrea Hammel

with further reading and references, including this map of “Finchleystrasse“.

Holding up a mirror to life – the photography of Wolf Suschitzky (1912-2016)
Research Centre for German and Austrian Exile Studies, Senate House, University of London, 21 October 2026
Dr. Julia Winckler, University of Brighton

 

Samuel Beckett German Diaries 1936-1937

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Samuel Beckett German Diaries published by Suhrkamp, English (lots of German terms in it) with German translation. Leseprobe. Übersetzung von Gaby Hartel
Herausgegeben von Mark Nixon und Oliver Lubrich

Guardian article 

I have borrowed Nixon’s book about this project, Samuel Beckett’s German Diaries 1936-1937, 2011, but someone else wants it so I will return it. Nixon the editor, professor of English at Reading University, also compares Beckett’s approach to Germany with Isherwood’s “I am a camera”. Beckett listens

like a fool to 2 hours of Hitler & an hour of Goering (opening of Reichstag. Goering reelected President, laws controlling 4 years plan extended for another 4…the usual from A.H. with announcement of a 20 yr. plan for development of Berlin, ‘rely’ to Eden consisting mainly in repeated assertion that Germany’s policy is not one of isolation; then Goering announcing foundation of 3 years ‘cultural’ prices of 100,000 ? RM & prohibition imposed on any Germans to accept a Nobel Prize

(January 1937)

 

German breadcutting

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A clip of a German cutting a “super accurate” slice of “very hard” bread has gone viral.

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DZeqv5_qHpP/

The reaction of some colleagues was “Why don’t they use a bread cutting machine?”

Years ago German bakeries would ask if you wanted the bread cut in a machine. I always said no. No need to let it dry out.

But who else remembers the times when a German woman (usually) would buy a huge loaf of bread and hold it against her waist to cut an even slice? Here’s the first example I found.

Here’s the Wired article in this connection.

Navigating Germany and the UK in a wheelchair

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Christiane Link has written about disability law in the UK and Germany for many years. She is disappointed nowadays when she finds thoughtless provision in what used to be her home country. This is from her newsletter, The Reverse Culture Shock is real – my Berlin experience

Here is what people often miss: Germany does not have anything equivalent to the UK Equality Act 2010. The Behindertengleichstellungsgesetz and even the Anti-Discrimination Act, the main disability equality laws, apply either primarily to federal public bodies or are a paper tiger. Enforcement remains weak and difficult for individual disabled people in a service environment outside employment. It is nothing compared to the UK law. There is no meaningful compensation mechanism for disabled people who face barriers. It’s all very bureaucratic, and organisations rarely get a slap on the wrist. And they know that. You can complain, and you can be ignored or get a very German letter back, and that is largely the end of it. Often, you feel more offended than you were before.