Un-German Literature

This chapter examines how the German book trade in general, and Albatross Press in particular, fared under Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime. For Kurt Enoch, as for all German Jews, the rise of Hitler altered his very way of living. Albatross's status in Nazi Germany was precarious enough to worry all its directors. In their favor was Albatross's legal standing as a German firm, registered under and protected by German law, as well as its German ties: Max Christian Wegner as managing director, Oscar Brandstetter as the printer, and Enoch as the distributor. Yet Nazi officials might also treat Albatross as a foreign firm, financed by the British, which produced foreign books, had its editorial offices in Paris, and gave decision-making power to foreign partners. Despite all these concerns, Albatross appeared to thrive, even as tolerance for the kind of literature it produced was dwindling.