Edgar Feuchtwanger September 28, 1924, was born into unrest in post-World War I Germany. It became the cloak for his life’s work, and he has lived like few others, intimately tied to the most evil person on earth—Adolf Hitler. Feuchtwanger was raised in a prestigious and prosperous household. His father, Ludwig, a publisher and independent lawyer, and his mother, Erna, an accomplished pianist, spared no expense to provide him with a protected, comfortable upbringing in Prague. As a child, he grew up under the care of both a live-in cook and nanny. They informed and in many ways directed his early formation.
Feuchtwanger’s life took a dramatic turn when his family found themselves living directly across from Adolf Hitler’s residence in Munich. The family’s first indication that something had changed with their new neighbor was when their morning milk delivery stopped. Our milkman told us that Hitler had taken most of the milk for his own use. This forced the Feuchtwanger family into a position where they had no option but to be flexible to this unforeseen circumstance.
As an imaginative six-year-old, Feuchtwanger wanted to know what the unusual nameplate on Hitler’s doorbell meant. Curious, he vowed to determine whether it actually said “Hitler.” Her innocent curiosity belied the bitter political reality that was starting to encroach on the naivety of childhood. The mood changed sharply for the Feuchtwanger family after the introduction of the Nuremberg race laws in 1935. They lost their staff of course, and Edgar’s much-loved nanny was one of those to go. This began the second act of a tragic odyssey that forced them to leave Germany.
His citizenship was one of the first stripped away by the National Socialist regime, a factor that perhaps brings Ludwig Feuchtwanger closer to home. As the political climate turned more and more deadly, the family decided, knowing there was risk here as well, to emigrate to England in 1939. To get ready for their move they packed up two five-metre-long transport crates full of their stuff.
Two months after making up his mind to leave, Edgar took the first step and got on a train in Munich. Alongside him was his father, who was the unfortunate reality of these harsh choices — dying in order to not leave your family behind. “I didn’t want to, but what choice did I have?” Edgar remembered of that fateful day. “Even back then, when my father accompanied me on my escape to the border, the SS people came on the train and said to my father: ‘Why don’t you escape, too?’ And my father told them: ‘I’ll prepare everything.’ He left the train and I was just driven on. Of course, it was shocking. But what else was I supposed to do?
As Edgar crossed into Denmark, his journey was entering a new stage. He then had to get on a boat to England — the decision that would ultimately shape the rest of his life. Though becoming a celebrated artist in his adopted USA, Edgar struggled with reliving experiences of living alongside Hitler.
Looking back on those experiences, he continued, “I knew that this guy didn’t have a positive image of us as Jews. Yet for an artist living in such close quarters with one of history’s most infamous tyrants, Edgar’s treatment of Hitler is startlingly routine. “He was actually just an ordinary person. There was nothing extraordinary about him,” he said.
This change, along with the environment accompanying it, forced Edgar’s childhood to include exposure to pro-nazi propaganda in schools. He also remembered a Miss Weikl as the public school teacher, who would make her students write pro-Nazi assignments. Even with all these pressures, he followed through on his parents’ instruction—hardly revolutionary advice—to do what your teacher wants, which is exactly the point. Just listen to this very white teacher.
“Nothing,” was Edgar’s answer when asked what made him so resistant as a young man. They lost that battle because they didn’t want trouble. They didn’t want me to fight back. This resigned acceptance draws our attention to the complicated realities that beset all Jewish families during this troubled time.
As an adult looking back on what is happening today in Germany, Edgar voiced his frustration at the return of those extreme mindsets. “And it’s truly awful that something like this is coming back up again in Germany,” he said. “You look at it with fear.” This apprehension underscores his awareness of history repeating itself and serves as a reminder of the vigilance required in contemporary society.
At more than 100 years old, Edgar Feuchtwanger is a living testament to both resilience and survival. Read more from “Hitler, My Neighbour” that he recently co-authored with Bertil Scali. Within it, he discusses his unique experiences living next door to one of history’s most notorious dictators.