Paula, Josef and Frieda Fruchter: Letters from Shanghai Exile 1941–1949

1941年4月/5月，钢琴家兼声乐教练宝拉·弗兰克特(Paula Fruchter，1896-1983)和歌手、歌唱教师兼康托尔·约瑟夫·弗兰克特(Cantor Josef Fruchter，1900-1976)带着他们8岁的女儿弗里达(Frieda，1933-2020)逃到了上海。他们是大约1.8万名难民中的一员，其中大部分是犹太人，他们在中国港口城市寻求庇护，以躲避纳粹的迫害。1941年至1949年间，宝拉·弗拉克特在丈夫和女儿发来的信息的补充下，给母亲和维也纳的其他亲戚写了近70封信、明信片、电报和红十字会的信息。由于母亲没有受到反犹太主义迫害的影响，她在维也纳的纳粹时期和信件中幸存了下来。这绝对是例外，因为在大多数情况下，来自上海的信件收件人被驱逐出境，信件和他们的财物一起丢失。Fruchter夫妇的信件分三个阶段写成，没有一封回信幸存下来。第一批信息是在从维也纳经柏林、莫斯科、西伯利亚和满洲国的航班上写下的。它们给人一种旅行的环境，城市和风景以及接近外国世界的印象。最后一部分由四封信组成，这四封信是在从上海经意大利到以色列和以色列拉纳纳的航程中写的。这些主要是关于对未来的希望和担忧。来自上海的信件占了最大的部分。除了专业情况(音乐会、教学、在犹太教堂担任康托教士、工作条件、竞争情况等)外，他们还处理上海的日常生活(住宿、食物、健康、气候、教育、联系网络以及战后进一步移民或再移民的考虑)。在上海困难的情况和对维也纳母亲的关心的背景下，宝拉·弗劳克特特别制定了写作策略--典型的流亡信件--既有助于安抚自己，也有助于安抚母亲。该项目的目的是出版一份由两部分组成的出版物。第一部分为分析性研究。它将分析Fruchter夫妇特定的流亡沟通策略，从而除其他外，向维也纳的家人传达上海的条件，包括音乐生活的形象。这结合了对研究状况、来源情况、历史背景、Fruchter传记和家庭背景的说明。信函版包括评论和参考工具、信函索引和关于编辑问题和决定的报告，将构成第二部分。该项目与申请者的专著《Musiker and Musikerinnen im Shanghaier Exil 1938-1949》(2021年)有关，旨在基于在那里试验的纠缠历史的方法论考虑。

In April/May 1941, the pianist and vocal coach Paula Fruchter (1896-1983) and the singer, singing teacher and cantor Josef Fruchter (1900-1976) fled to Shanghai with their eight-year-old daughter Frieda (1933-2020). They were among the approximately 18,000 mostly Jewish refugees who sought refuge from Nazi persecution in the Chinese port city. Supplemented by messages from her husband and daughter, Paula Fruchter wrote almost 70 letters, postcards, telegrams and Red Cross messages to her mother and other relatives in Vienna between 1941 and 1949. Since the mother was not affected by antisemitic persecution, she survived the Nazi period in Vienna and with her the letters. This is absolutely exceptional, because in most cases the addressees of letters from Shanghai were deported and the correspondence was lost along with their belongings. The Fruchters’ letters, for which no reply letters have survived, were written in three phases. The first messages were written during the flight from Vienna via Berlin, Moscow, Siberia and Manchukuo. They give an impression of the circumstances of the journey, of cities and landscapes as well as approaching foreign worlds. The final section is made up of four letters written during the ship passage from Shanghai via Italy to Israel and in Raanana, Israel. These are mainly about hopes and fears for the future. The letters from Shanghai make up the largest part. In addition to the professional situation (concerts, teaching, work as cantor in the synagogue, working conditions, competitive situation, etc.), they deal with everyday life in Shanghai (accommodation, food, health, climate, education, contact networks and considerations for further migration or remigration in the post-war period). Against the background of the difficult situation in Shanghai and the concern for her mother in Vienna, Paula Fruchter in particular developed writing strategies – typical of letters from exile – that served both to reassure herself and to calm her mother. The aim of the project is a two-part publication. The first part will be an analytical study. It will analyse the Fruchters’ exile-specific communication strategies and thus, among other things, the image that was conveyed to the family in Vienna of the conditions in Shanghai, including musical life. This is combined with explanations of the state of research, the source situation, the historical background, the biographies of the Fruchters and the family contexts. The letter edition, including commentary and reference apparatus, a letter index and a report on the editorial problems and decisions, will form the second part. The project is connected to the applicant’s monograph “Musiker und Musikerinnen im Shanghaier Exil 1938–1949” (2021) and is intended to build on methodological considerations on the history of entanglements tried out there.