Stefan Heym
Stefan Heym, originally born Helmut Flieg in 1913 in Chemnitz, Germany, was a prominent Jewish writer known for his political literature and historical fiction. Fleeing Nazi persecution, he changed his name in 1942 and became a U.S. citizen. His literary career began with an early antimilitaristic poem that led to his expulsion from school, foreshadowing a lifelong commitment to social justice and the plight of the oppressed. After earning degrees in German literature and working as an editor of an antifascist newspaper, Heym penned his first novel, "Hostages," which resonated with themes of class unity.
Drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II, he later became disillusioned with American society and its turn toward fascism, prompting his decision to seek asylum in East Germany in 1953. His works, including "Goldsborough," often portrayed realistic depictions of the working class while advocating for democratic socialism. Heym's political activism was evident in his gesture of returning his Bronze Star and resigning from parliament in protest against lawmakers' pay increases. Throughout his career, he remained dedicated to exploring societal issues through compelling narratives that championed the ideals of socialism and critiqued fascist tendencies.
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Stefan Heym
Writer
- Born: April 10, 1913
- Birthplace: Chemnitz, Germany
- Died: December 16, 2001
Biography
Stefan Heym, a Jew born Helmut Flieg in Chemnitz, Germany, legally changed his name in 1942 and soon become a citizen of the United States, having fled persecution in Germany. The son of businessman Daniel Flieg and Else Primo Flieg, Heym, who wrote political literature, would become known for his social, historical, and autobiographical fiction, as well as for his political essays and journalism. In 1944, Heym married Gertrude Gelbin, an American journalist. Two years after her death in 1969, he married Inge Hohn, an editor for an East German film studio. He adopted her son.
When he was a young man of eighteen in 1931, a local newspaper published an antimilitaristic poem Heym wrote. At the time, Nazism was on the rise and such criticism was not tolerated. He was immediately expelled from school and harassed. Though he was from the middles class, this experience and his own observations of the working class led to his lifelong sympathy for the oppressed. He moved to Berlin to continue his education and writing. When Hitler came into power in 1933, Heym was pursued by the Gestapo and narrowly escaped to Prague, Czechoslovakia.
In Prague, Heym won a University of Chicago scholarship available for persecuted Jews. In 1935, he moved to Chicago to complete a B.A. and M.A. in German literature. He then moved to New York to edit an antifascist newspaper. After the newspaper folded, he began writing fiction, and in 1942, his first novel, Hostages, advocating that the working class unite, became a best-seller.
In 1943, Heym was drafted into the United States army and worked in a propaganda intelligence unit. Participating in the Normandy invasion, his unit moved with the army into Germany. Eventually his socialist beliefs made serving in the army impossible for him. After leaving the service, he wrote The Crusaders, an epic and best-selling novel describing World War II. A major theme focused on the corruption of the army as well as the courage of individual soldiers.
Heym came to believe America, too, was moving toward fascism. As the anticommunist fervor of the Joseph McCarthy era in 1950’s increased in the United States, Heym’s ideas became suspect. In 1953, he sought and received political asylum in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Part of his disillusionment with the United States stemmed from his observation of a Pennsylvaniacoal strike. This episode became the subject of the novel Goldsborough, a work hailed by social realists for portraying realistically the life of the working class saved by a strong hero who moves the workers toward the goals of socialism.
Heym continued to write novels and essays advocating a democratic socialism and decrying fascism. Emblematic of his idealism, he returned the Bronze Star he received in World War II to President Eisenhower and later resigned his seat in Parliament in unified Germany to protest a pay raise for lawmakers. His compelling stories and nonfiction continued to be inspired by his political beliefs and social vision.