The German writer, filmmaker, painter, and playwright Peter Weiss was born during World War I in Nowawes, a small village near Berlin. His Hungarian-Jewish father became a Czech citizen after the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire when Weiss was two years old. Although other family members subsequently acquired Czech citizenship, Weiss never spoke Czech and always felt he was an outsider, perpetually moving between countries, languages, and even media. When Weiss was three the family moved to the port city of Bremen, but they were forced to flee Germany in 1935 after Hitler came to power. A year later they moved to Warnsdorf in Northern Bohemia in Czechoslovakia, finally settling in Sweden in 1938. In a striking series of self-portraits and paintings done during Weiss’ forced…
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Citation: Blankenship, Janelle. "Meine Ortschaft". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 March 2025 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=30300, accessed 31 March 2025.]
