The Devil in France
Michaela Ullmann
Exile Studies Librarian, USC Libraries
Background
The Feuchtwanger Memorial Library (FML) houses library and papers of celebrated
German-Jewish novelist Lion Feuchtwanger and other important German-speaking exiles
who found a safe haven in Los Angeles after fleeing Nazi Germany
USC also holds the rights to Feuchtwanger’s works
Over the past years, USC has acquired an extensive book collection focusing on Holocaust
studies
The Holocaust collection and the USC Shoah Visual Archive make USC an increasingly
important institution for the study of the Holocaust
LibGuides:
Feuchtwanger Memorial Library: http://libguides.usc.edu/feuchtwanger
USC Shoah Visual Archive: http://libguides.usc.edu/vha
Holocaust Studies: http://libguides.usc.edu/holocaust
Challenges
Promoting collections of primary sources
Promoting collections in languages other than English, namely German (without an existing
German department on campus)
Aligning the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library with the focus on Holocaust studies
Increase awareness and access to the collections housed in FML
The making of The Devil in France
Scanning of the original text
Correction of misspellings/errors in the text of the existing 1940 edition
Creation of additional content to supplement the edition and make it more accessible to
students (introduction by the Dean of the Libraries, map, timeline, essay by Marta
Feuchtwanger)
Design of the layout and cover in a contemporary way that appeals to students (including
images created by USC students), for both, a print and a digital edition
The cover of our The Devil in France publication
Promotion / Outreach I
Collaboration with Office of Student Affairs
Office of Student Affairs agreed to help promote the book to all incoming students at USC
Featured The Devil in France in the recommended readings on their website
Invited us to their introductory sessions for residential ambassadors
Provided a table at their fairs for incoming students
Books were provided at several USC University Park Campus libraries where students could
pick up them up at the circulation desk of eleven libraries on campus
Promotion / Outreach II
Collaboration with Vision and Voices
USC has a university-wide arts and humanities initiative called Vision and Voices
A grant from Vision and Voices allowed us to create two events in conjunction with the
publication of The Devil in France
First event:
Enemy Number One": Lion Feuchtwanger and the Literature of Exile, a panel discussion
about censorship, political repression, and writing in exile in honor of Banned Books Week
Second event:
Enemy Number One": A Tour and Performance at the Villa Aurora, a tour to Feuchtwanger’s
former home in Pacific Palisades, where a reading from letters between Lion and his wife
Marta Feuchtwanger from the 1930s and 1940s would be performed. Participants also went on
a tour of the house and had the chance to browse items exhibited from the archive
Both events were featured on the USC Libraries and Vision and Voices websites and on flyers,
as well as in articles published in the USC News, USC Libraries’ Libwire, and the USC
Chronicle
Curt Lowens and Nina Franoszek perform a dramatized exchange of
letters between Lion and Marta Feuchtwanger during Lion's
imprisonment in Nazi-occupied France.
Photo by Rachelle Balinas Smith
Students browse a special exhibition of materials related to the
Feuchtwangers' lives.
Photo by Rachelle Balinas Smith
Promotion / Outreach III
Distribution off Campus
The Devil in France publications were send to colleagues and relevant institutions at other
libraries/institutions
As of March 8, 2013, Worlcat showed 86 copies of our publication in libraries:
16 copies in California libraries
65 copies in US libraries outside of California
1 copy in Taiwan
1 copy in Hong Kong
3 copies in Canada
Instruction
Even after initial outreach activities, The Devil in France remains popular at USC
The publication is regularly introduced in Holocaust classes as well as in general instruction
sessions for Special Collections
Professors use the book in their Holocaust classes
Radom surveys show that students at USC are familiar with Feuchtwanger’s memoir The
Devil in France
In some cases, reading The Devil in France led students to ask their grandparents about their
experiences during WWII
Conclusion
Going into it, we underestimated the time & work involved
Overall, the project was a great success and we still benefit from it since we still provide
copies of the Devil in France at several locations on campus and during instruction session
Through this project and other initiatives, the awareness of the Feuchtwanger Memorial
Library has been increased among our students
The Devil in France was the perfect tool to educated students about Lion Feuchtwanger and
our collections and to create a bridge from Holocaust studies to Exile studies
More and more students inquire about writing papers on Feuchtwanger and the Germanspeaking exile experience
This year, a USC student will present a paper about Feuchtwanger’s political speeches and
essays at the conference of the International Feuchtwanger Society in Berlin, Germany. He
does not speak or read any German…
Thank you!
Read the Devil in France:
http://sait.usc.edu/orientation/media/Publications/DevilinFranceLibrary.pdf
Contact:
Michaela Ullmann
ullmann@usc.edu